Lost & Found
by CPDSVU
Summary: [FOLLOW-UP TO "FUTURE PAST"]: Hailey and Jay are now the proud parents of 2-year-old Amelia Rose. Their jobs are stable, Amelia loves her daycare, and married life is treating them very well. So then why do they feel like they're being watched? And when everything is not what it seems, can they trust each other to make it through?
1. Two

**A/N: Aaaaand third time's the charm because I'm back with another story. Follow-up to "Future Past" – with a couple of the new characters (aka: the interim Superintendent Jason Crawford, and Vanessa Rojas, the undercover cop portrayed by Lisseth Chavez for PD's new season) added in. Story timeline is a year after "By the Numbers" so Amelia is now 2 years old. I think that's everything. Hope ya'll like this intro and will stick around for the final installment in this (apparent) trilogy!**

* * *

For two parents that barely slept a wink last night, Jay and Hailey were the happiest they'd ever been in a while. It was Amelia Rose's first day at the daycare nursery center, and while most parents were completely attached to their kids, never letting them go; Jay and Hailey knew that it was their best option right now, given that their workload had increased under the new Superintendent's rule. It had been going on 2 years since Kelton's murder and Brennan's arrest; but this was the first year that Jason Crawford went from interim super to the permanent leader of police. And with that kind of power came major responsibility, which of course meant intense scrutiny from the Ivory Tower. One Police Plaza was watching Crawford, which in turn meant he wanted to keep watch on one of the more troublesome units: Intelligence.

"Hails, have you seen Amelia's blanket? It's not in the bag," Jay called out to her as he finished fastening Amelia's Velcro shoes. The little girl gave him a big smile, and he took the opportunity to tickle her a little bit, making her giggle. He knew why he loved seeing her like that: because she was just like Hailey in that respect. Their smiles and laughs could brighten up anyone's day, or light up any room.

"Yeah, I got it, she slept with it last night," Hailey called back to him, coming out to the sofa where they sat. The pale pink blanket was in her hand, and she handed it to Jay to put with the rest of Amelia's things. She laughed at the sight of her daughter giggling, and of course she was laughing with her dad, Hailey's husband Jay. She always loved seeing that: the two of them bonding. It warmed her heart like you wouldn't believe. She was so thankful that those two were her life. And she knew she was theirs: she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Alright, thanks." Jay's voice rustled Hailey from her internal monologue. He turned back to face his daughter. "You ready, Miss Amelia Rose?" He cooed, his babyish voice back in full force. He grabbed her little hands, shaking them up and down to mimic excitement, much to Hailey's amusement.

"Yeah? You ready to go, baby girl?" Hailey asked, her voice taking on the same child-like quality Jay's had. She motioned for Amelia to come over to her, and the little one crawled halfway there, before attempting once again to walk. She hadn't been able to do much more than stand up, before wobbling and falling back to the ground.

But, much to both Jay and Hailey's shock, Amelia stood steady on her own two feet. She amazed them all by walking the rest of the way over to Hailey.

"Oh my goodness, look at you go Supergirl!" Hailey congratulated her daughter, tears brimming in her eyes. "Jay, did you see that?!" She asked.

Jay was wildly shaking his head yes in response to her question, tears forming in his own eyes as they were transfixed on the two women in front of him. "Yeah, I did. I sure did."

* * *

"Welcome to Sunshine Nursery and Daycare. I'm Miss Lola. And this must be little Amelia," the Latina woman bent down to Hailey's arms where Amelia laid.

Hailey and Jay looked from each other to Amelia's new teacher. "Yes, this is Amelia Rose. She's all ready for her first day!" Hailey said excitedly. Jay's goofy grin mirrored her sentiments.

Lola Michaels caught on quickly, smiling brightly back at the happy couple. "Well, welcome to all 3 of you. Come this way and I'll show you where Amelia will spend her days." She led the trio to a small classroom, with about 7 or 8 other little tikes. Boys and girls crawling and walking all over the place, playing with toys, drawing, napping, you name it, they were doing it.

"Wow, look at this Amelia," Hailey whispered, swaying her daughter around the room to see everything.

"This is great Ms. Michaels," Jay said, echoing Hailey's earlier statement.

"Thank you," Lola said, turning to face them again. "You guys can take all the time you need, and whenever you're ready, we can let Amelia take her first steps around the room."

Jay and Hailey nodded, sharing a quick glance before saying their goodbyes to their daughter. They watched, bittersweet at the moment Amelia was off, away from them and amongst the other children. They took each other's hand as they made their way out of the child care center, both hoping the other didn't catch their last looks back.

The drive to work that morning was quieter than usual, the two having a lot on their minds. Jay gave Hailey's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and she smiled softly at him from her passenger seat. _They'd be okay, it was just a change_. At least that's what Jay hoped he was communicating through his eyes when he looked into Hailey's. He watched her blue eyes soften, seeming to understand what he was trying to say.

"Hey Jay?" Hailey whispered, so quietly he almost didn't hear her as they pulled into the district.

"Yeah?"

"We got this, babe." She said confidently, giving him a little smirk. He reciprocated, earning a small laugh from her.

"Yeah, yeah we do, _babe_." He teased, taking his turn to laugh when Hailey playfully punched his shoulder.

They were walking up the stairs to Intelligence when they were promptly greeted at the doors by Adam and Kevin. Hailey and Jay looked at their coworkers quizzically. "Yes?" They asked in unison.

"So, how'd the little bambina's day go?!" Adam asked a little too loudly.

"Yeah, how's Amelia liking daycare so far? Did you guys take pictures?" Kevin asked, equally as excited as Adam's face let on.

Jay and Hailey looked from each other back to their friends. "It went swimmingly." Hailey answered. Jay pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"And yes, I _did_ sneak a quick photo of Amelia with her teacher, Lola." He added sheepishly. "Look at that little smile though! She already loves it – she went straight for the foam blocks, and get this – the firetruck!"

Hailey laughed, patting Jay's shoulder as he pouted. "He was fully expecting her to go for police, of course…" she joked, to which he responded with an eye roll. That made the four of them laugh, and they finished their ascent up the stairs with that funny thought in mind.

"Morning guys!" They greeted Kim, Vanessa, and Voight. The other 3 members of Intelligence waved, smiled, and nodded as Hailey, Jay, Adam, and Kevin all got settled into their desks for the day.

Platt came up the stairs, wearing a solemn look. "Guys: turn on the news. _Now_."

Voight and his team all exchanged glances, but did as instructed. Channel 5 had just issued an Amber Alert for a missing 10-year-old boy: Isaac Crawford.

"As in–" Kim started, to which Platt only nodded, confirming what everyone feared: Superintendent Jason Crawford's son was the one abducted today. That made the second kid this week; 4 altogether over the last two. The other 3 were outside of Intelligence's jurisdiction, but this one, this one they knew they had to handle.

Platt was about to announce something else when all heads turned to the footsteps making their way up the stairs. "Ladies, gentlemen." Jason Crawford stood in front of them now, looking more like a grieving father than their eagle-eyed enforcer. He nodded at Voight, who was followed by Platt into his office where they could speak privately.

"Jason, I am terribly sorry. How did, how did this happen?" Platt asked.

"I know this is difficult, Jason. Anything you can remember will be of major assistance." Voight added.

Jason looked up at the two elder officers, before telling them the horrid story of this morning. "I was getting ready as usual, and Melinda my wife, she takes Isaac to school. Well apparently she had a doctor's appointment, so she had dropped Isaac at the bus stop before she left. He's ridden the bus before, just not very often. The school called, telling me that Isaac never made it. And now, here we are." The man buried his head into his hands; Voight and Platt could only try to professionally console him.

"So, what's the next move, Hank?" Jason asked.

"Does Isaac have a cell phone?"

"Yes, why?"

Voight nodded at Platt, who called to Ruzek.

"Yeah Sarge?" Adam asked, standing halfway in the door.

"Run a trace on this number, _now_." Platt demanded, having Jason scribble down his son's cell phone number.

"You got it," Adam said, hurrying back to his desk.

A few minutes later, Adam regrettably informed his superiors that the phone must have either died, been broken, or turned off because the last ping was off a cell tower near Millennium Park.

"Alright, Adam, you and Kevin go check out the park. See if any bystanders saw anyone resembling Isaac." Voight rattled off a few other commands to his other officers, sending Kim and Vanessa to go with Jason back to his house to talk to his wife. He sent Hailey and Jay out to talk to the NCIC, see if there's a hit anywhere at all with anyone similar to Isaac's description.

As Jay and Hailey made their way back downstairs to his truck, he noticed Hailey's somber expression. He gently touched her arm, and she looked at him with wide eyes. "Hey, it's okay. We're gonna get Crawford's kid back." He hoped he sounded confident instead of racked with worry like Hailey was (but wouldn't admit).

She nodded, but could feel his eyes boring into the back of her skull. She turned back to face him once again, grabbing his hand, kissing it quickly before hopping into the vehicle. Jay nodded resolutely, before jumping into the driver's seat, speeding off to their destination.

* * *

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Jay asked the man in operations at NCIC's Chicago base.

"I don't know if there's anyone matching that description, detective. Look, all our cases right now are juveniles. No one under the age of 12 has been reported missing in the last 24 hours. I can recheck what we've got again, but there's no guarantees."

"Yeah, alright, you do that," Jay spat, turning around with his hands laced behind his neck in frustration.

Hailey sighed, looking at the man. "Listen man, this is someone's child. Someone's ten-year-old boy who is probably scared out of their mind right now. Do you understand? It's our superintendent, okay? As in technically, _your_ boss too, since he pretty much runs all of Chicago. You get that?"

The guy shook his head like he couldn't believe they were nagging him like this. But he hurriedly typed in another query, and Jay and Hailey impatiently looked over his shoulder, hoping it would yield results.

"There," they said simultaneously, making the man stop on a photo of a 10-year-old, black haired, blue eyed boy.

"Same hair as Isaac, different eyes, but same build, age, the like." Jay said, looking to Hailey.

"Print it, please." Hailey said, a sickly-sweet tone in her voice. She was livid that the man didn't seem to care as deeply as he should for someone in his line of work. _This was someone's child, someone's own flesh and blood out there, scared and helpless. _She just wished everyone could care as much as she, Jay, and the rest of Intelligence did. Once they had the paper, they swiftly bid adieu to the NCIC and were back on the road to the district.

"What'd you guys get?" Voight asked as the two returned to the district where the rest of their squad awaited.

"Got another possible abduction. Same as Isaac in everything but eye color. Isaac has hazel eyes, while this kid–"

"Tyler Johnson," Hailey filled in the name of the kid for the team, nodding at Jay to continue.

"Has blue eyes. He's been missing since last month, out of Indiana. It says here the last known on him was that NCIC had tracked him to a trafficking ring out of Waynesville, Indiana."

Voight nodded, looking at his team. "Alright, find them. Bring them all in, I don't care. Indiana won't know what hit 'em when we're through."


	2. Innocent

**A/N: So sorry for the major delay (at least for me anyway) in updating guys. I'm gonna try to get another chapter up by tonight; but for now, hope this one tides you over. **

* * *

"_Listen_ Andy," Voight started, grabbing the guy by his shirt collar. "I don't have time for this. When we got to you in Indiana, Tyler wasn't there. Now where the hell is he?"

The man's face remained stoic, which only made Voight madder. "**Where is the child**?" His voice was so loud that if the windows weren't bulletproof, they would've cracked right then and there.

Hailey looked to her left at Jay, who stood beside her outside the interrogation room. The two of them were watching it all unfold: Andy Robbins acted tough, but everyone knew better. This went higher up, but exactly how much was yet to be determined.

"You sure you're okay to observe?" Hailey whispered, darting her eyes over to his.

Jay looked at her, only turning his face. "Yeah, I'm good. I just wanna know if this guy's the real deal, or if he's just another pawn. Seems too elaborate to be anything else but a high intensity operation."

Hailey agreed. "Especially since they seemed to make Tyler disappear into thin air. They've got to be funneling these kids out somehow…. but where are they being taken to is the question."

"Yeah, and _why_. Damn, I thought these hit hard when I _didn't_ have a kid of my own. God, I can't even begin to process what my mind's going through right now." He paused, hesitantly asking her if she was doing okay.

"I, yeah, I'm okay. Amelia's safe. She'll be getting out of daycare in an hour, and you know Voight, he's such a softie around her that he'll let us go early if needed. I just wanna find this boy. Or if there are others, I want them to be home safe and sound too. God, this is every parent's worst nightmare…"

Their conversation was cut short by the alarming sound of fists to face as Voight was punching the living daylights out of Andy. Jay and Hailey went wide-eyed, but sprang into action anyway.

"Sarge! Sarge!" They both tried to pry him off of Andy Robbins, who was gushing blood like a geyser. Voight let out a cross between a growl and a yell before releasing the man from his clutches.

"Get him out of here. I got a name. Tony DePalma. That's who _really_ runs the show."

Jay and Hailey nodded at this new information, yanking Andy up from the floor and putting him in cuffs. They were taking him downstairs to the cage when he said something rather eerie.

"So, it's gotta be you two then, right? You've gotta be the ones with a kid," he said it so casually that you would have thought he was ordering Starbucks, not discussing an intimate detail of Jay and Hailey's personal life.

"Shut up and sit down," Jay snapped, literally tossing Andy down to the bench.

He heard Andy cough, sputtering out some blood from his mouth, before adding an ominous last note: "It was either you or the other two, and judging by your reaction, looks like I found my winner. Oh man, DePalma's gonna eat this shit up–"

Jay had him back up by the collar in a second. "Listen, you vile excuse for a human being. You stop talking right now, or you won't have any teeth left when I'm done with you, you understand me?"

This made Andy laugh, which showcased his bloodied mouth, much to Hailey's disgust. She had to look away as Jay threw another few punches to the guy's face; she knew she'd see too much red if she didn't.

"**Jay**, come on," she said sharply, making her husband turn his head. Jay shoved Andy back into his seat and followed Hailey out and back up the stairs.

They both exhaled breaths they weren't aware they had been holding in. Jay locked eyes with Hailey once again, before asking: "What the hell was that?"

Hailey looked at him with just about as much uncertainty. "I have no idea."

* * *

"Jay, Hailey, you tell me as soon as you get to Amelia's daycare. Kim and Adam are still tailing you, but as soon as you have Amelia safe and secure at your home, I'll let 'em go. Got it?"

Jay and Hailey nodded at each other, before verbally confirming things with Voight. The two of them quickly parked their car around the back of the center, going in the rear doors. Voight had already called the school and made them aware of the situation, so they were expecting Hailey and Jay to come in very differently than normal parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Halstead," Lola greeted the couple in a hushed tone, her eyes darting around the tiny classroom. "She's safe, and all set to go."

Hailey and Jay conveyed they're thanks to Ms. Michaels before swiftly getting Amelia Rose back to their car. The drive home was done in utter silence; even Amelia was asleep for the short duration. It didn't keep both Jay and Hailey from checking on her in their mirrors every minute though. Their heart rates would always veer back to normal after seeing their little girl's sleeping face in her car seat.

When they pulled into Jay's complex, they hurriedly ran inside to get Amelia situated. While Hailey tended to her, Jay took care of blacking out the apartment. Blinds were drawn, all windows locked, door code was changed, and the alarm system was triple checked. There was no way _anyone_ was getting inside their house, at least not tonight.

A little while later, Jay collapsed onto the sofa, and Hailey came to sit next to him. "What's going through your mind right now?" She asked him sincerely, running a hand over her face.

Jay watched as she pulled her hair down from its earlier ponytail, entranced over how it fell in waves over her shoulders. "I just don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight is all. I mean, I used to be only worried about keeping _you_ safe; but now, I've got another life in my hands that I love so much. And she needs to be kept safe just as much, if not more."

Hailey nodded, grabbing his hand. "I know. And I know you've done so much for the both of us; I just don't know what else there is we can do at this moment. Which absolutely kills me, but as long as you're here with me, and Amelia's safe like you said, I'll be okay. I don't want anything to happen to either of you, but especially that little angel over there," Hailey cocked her head in Amelia's direction, as the little girl was sitting inside her play crib, bouncing a ball, giggling as it bobbed up and down off the ground.

"We'll keep her safe. We'll do it how we've done everything else," Jay said, pausing to give Hailey one of his prolonged glances. "Together." He watched as her eyes lit up with the acknowledgement of his intense stare. He wrapped his hands around hers, and the two of them stayed like that for a while, just looking from each other to Amelia, praying that Jay's words were right.

* * *

"I am not a patient man Andy," Voight said, his voice hard and emotionless. "You are either dumber than you look, or you're a liar. And either way, I don't think they've invented words for the hatred I have towards you right now. We searched Highbanks Hills high and low for Tony DePalma, but we came up empty handed. _Again_. Do you understand how that makes me feel?"

He didn't give Andy a chance to answer, instead grabbing him by the throat, pushing his head onto the back of the metal bars in the cage. He saw the man look over to Ruzek, as if he would help him out of this situation. Adam simply frowned in Andy's direction, turning his back and resuming his place in his book he was reading. He did that so he could attempt to tune out the violence behind him: Voight delivering blow after blow to Andy until he gave up either the location of the children or of Tony DePalma.

"Alright, **alright**!" Andy screeched. "I'll tell you where Tyler is," Voight hovered over him, ready to strike again when he added, "And where the others are. Just please don't kill me. _Please._"

Voight just shook his head at the pathetic man in front of him. He gave Andy one last swift kick before demanding those locations. When he finally gave them up, Hank looked to Adam, who ran up the stairs as fast as lightening.

"77 West Adams for Tyler, and a barnyard out in Bakersfield for the others," he called out when he got up to the bullpen. Two heads turned in his direction, and four pairs of eyes stared for a second before realizing they had actually gotten information out of that idiotic person downstairs.

"How _many_ others?" Kim asked, locking eyes with her boyfriend. She watched as Adam ducked his head down, shaking it shamefully.

"Andy said at least 9 others were in the barn the last time he was there. He had planned to drop Tyler at that location tonight, but we obviously interrupted that plan."

Kim didn't even bother to hide her look of disgust, and neither did Vanessa. The two women went to work, tracking the locations. Kevin had just come back from a field test with Platt when he was caught up to the current phase of the investigation.

"Run these down," Kim told Atwater, who did exactly as told. He forwarded Jay, Hailey, Voight, and Adam the addresses of the two stash houses; and the two cars took off, each knowing what would be easiest for the others to bear witness to.

When Jay and Hailey pulled up to 77 West Adams, they were greeted with a condemned shack-like home, complete with charred rubble from an old fire that probably dismantled originally.

"Tyler? Tyler, if you can hear us, call out buddy," Jay shouted, working his way up the stairs.

"Tyler? Tyler, are you here? It's okay, we're the police, we're here to help you," Hailey added, checking the first floor for any signs of Tyler. She sadly cleared the floor when she heard Jay call her name upstairs.

"Hailey, I got him! Call an ambulance, he's not breathing!" Hailey had never turned her radio so fast.

"5021 Henry, this is Detective Hailey Upton, Intelligence. Requesting an ambulance at 77 West Adams. Tender aged victim, unresponsive. Possibly trauma and abuse. Please, hurry!"

She ran up the stairs towards Jay, who held the boy in his arms. Tyler's face was ghostly white, and his pupils weren't reactive to Hailey's flashlight on her phone. _Dammit_. "Tyler? Tyler, can you hear me at all honey?" She asked, her voice cracking a little at the thought that they were too late to save him. She looked at Jay, who had tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "Jay, what're we gonna do? We have to help him!" She wailed, not even bothering to compose herself.

Jay, being as desperate as Hailey was, continued down the stairs with Tyler before setting him down on the partially burnt sofa. He tried to perform CPR on the child, and Hailey checked for a heartbeat, but wasn't getting anything. "Dammit, where the hell is that ambo?!" Jay cursed, his eyes running wild as he looked up at Hailey. They were both at a loss here, and they honestly thought the worst.

Hailey almost sobbed when she heard the sirens of Ambulance 61 outside the shack. "Oh, thank god, they're here!" She threw open the door for Jay, who had scooped Tyler back up.

"What do we got?" Sylvie asked.

"Unconscious since unknown time frame. We've been here for 10 minutes and he hasn't woken up. Not sure if it's toxic exposure or strangulation or some other harmful method, but please, just do whatever you can for him." Jay said, quickly pulling Hailey up with him into the bed of the ambulance. "And we're riding along. We can't leave him."

Foster looked at Brett, before shrugging from the driver's seat, turning the sirens back on before driving to Chicago Med. They arrived in record time; Jay and Hailey hopping out and going as far alongside Tyler's gurney as they could before Maggie told them they'd have to wait here. She had phoned Tyler's parents, and they were on their way to Med as she spoke.

Hailey's head snapped up to Jay's in an instant. _My god, Amelia. _Jay's hands pulsed up and down, reassuring her that Will and Natalie volunteered to pick him up today. Hailey let out a breath, falling back into the hospital chair with relief. _Okay, dodged a bullet_.

* * *

Their day continued to smooth itself over as Tyler's prognosis was fair, he had some bruising on his body from being tied up earlier in his torment, but it appeared that he hadn't been assaulted. He had only passed out because he was malnourished. Once April and Dr. Choi gave him fluids and crackers, he perked up some. Jay and Hailey greeted Mr. and Mrs. Johnson when they arrived, reiterating what they were told back to the parents.

"So, can we see him?" Tyler's mom asked.

"Of course," Hailey and Jay said simultaneously, motioning for the two to follow them back to Tyler's room.

"Mom? Dad? Mom! Dad!" Tyler said, an overjoyed innocence in his voice.

"Oh Tyler, thank god you're alright!" His mom said, hugging him tightly. His dad joined them, protectively wrapping his arms around his family.

Jay and Hailey felt like they were intruding, even just by standing the doorway, so they decided to let the family have a moment to themselves. Jay noticed that while they were walking out of Med, Hailey was sniffling. _Was she crying? And if so, were they tears of relief or ones of sadness? _He didn't have time to ask her because his phone rang.

"Halstead?"

"Jay, it's me," Voight's gruff voice echoed in his ear. "We got 'em. 7 of the 9 kids survived. The other two…they hadn't been fed or given water in days, maybe even weeks. The cooler air in the outdoors didn't help either. No blankets, no nothing. They were treated like garbage…"

"How, um," Jay willed his voice not to break, as he wanted to be strong for Hailey. "How old were they?"

"Not sure, but my best guess? 5, maybe 6. Too young. Way too young."

"Yeah. Yeah, thanks Hank. I um, I'm gonna get Hailey back home, alright? Tyler's on the mend, so there's a bit of good news for you," he tried to sound happy.

"That's great, Jay, that really is. Alright, you and Hailey go home, take care of your own. We'll reconvene tomorrow."

"Sounds good Sarge, thanks." Jay said, hanging up the phone before facing Hailey.

She was leaning her head against the window, and Jay could see her left cheek was stained with tears as it caught the little bit of light from the sun that was starting to go down. He carefully tapped her shoulder, forcing her to look over at him.

"Yeah?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"They got 'em Hails, they got the kids. Almost all of them made it." He said sadly.

"Almost," she repeated, as if she didn't understand the word herself. "Dammit. Just damn it all!" She smacked her hand across the dashboard in anger.

"Hey, hey," Jay said, soothingly clasping his hand around hers. "Be here with me. Listen to me," he started. "Focus on the ones that _did_ make it. Okay. I know it's hard, but please, Hailey, please just try."

She looked at him, and for a second he thought she might yell at him. But instead she broke down, quietly sobbing onto his shoulder. "I just– god, those poor families. I feel so helpless, and I hate it," she cried.

Jay rubbed her back, pulling her into him. "I know, I know. Me too. But hey, we've got our whole world waiting for us at home. Let's go see if she can cheer you up," he said, a little bit of happiness in his voice. He kissed Hailey's cheek, and she gave him a half smile. He would be okay with that. _It was a start_.


	3. I'm Watching You

"Hey babe, are you taking Amelia this morning or am I?" Hailey called from the kitchen as she poured herself a second cup of coffee.

"I'll take her," Jay yelled back, coming down the hall with his tie half done. He ran a hand through his hair, and Hailey smirked at his unfinished tie. She watched his eyes quickly dart down to his suit, then back up at her.

"Come here, you dork." She insisted, reaching over to finish the knot for him. She quickly straightened out the fabric so it laid flat against his chest. She smirked yet again when she felt his body stiffen under her touch. She cocked a brow in his direction, his eyes locking intensely onto hers. She knew whatever they started this morning would only delay getting Amelia to her nanny's house, aka: Hailey's parent's for this specific day.

"_Jay_," she warned him playfully as he leaned in, trying to catch her lips.

"_Hailey_," he mimicked, earning him one of her signature eye rolls.

She shook her head, tapping her fingers against his tie. "_Later_, okay? But right now, Amelia's got to get to my parent's house, and you've got an hour drive ahead of you mister. So go, please." She added sweetly, kissing his cheek.

Jay sighed, and his breath tickled Hailey's ear. "Okay, okay, I'm going, I'm going."

"See you at the house?" Hailey asked as he began to grab Amelia's bag.

"Yep," he assured her, scooping up his daughter and helping her wave goodbye to her mommy. "I'll be there."

* * *

Jay didn't normally white knuckle the steering wheel, but today was different. A lot different, really. He had been having an uneasy feeling ever since he left his apartment with his daughter, but the drive up to Lake Forest really wasn't helping things. He would periodically check on Amelia, who was snuggled up in her car seat. Even when he saw her sweet little smile or heard her giggle, he still couldn't get the knot in his stomach to unwind.

He kept on his usual path, checking his mirrors to see if anything looked out of the ordinary. Nothing so far, but his mind couldn't help but race with the dreadful what-ifs. _What if someone were to come after his daughter? What if someone was watching them? What if Andy really did have a plan in motion to come after Amelia, Hailey, and/or himself? Then what? How could he protect his wife and daughter from something he didn't even know would happen? _All of these questions swirled around in his brain, making him have to stop off at the shoulder of the highway to pop an Advil for his headache. He checked on Amelia, giving her a pacifier for the rest of the ride up to Hailey's parent's house.

When he arrived, Hailey's mom and dad greeted them enthusiastically, forever giddy when they got to see their granddaughter. "Oh, there they are! Hi, Jay, and hi miss Amelia Rose!"

Jay smiled, handing her off before repetitively thanking them for taking care of Amelia while he went back to work. He bid them all goodbye, before cooing to Amelia that he and mommy (referring to Hailey) would see her soon. The last thing he saw in his rearview mirror was his little girl waving her hands in the air, almost like she was saying bye. He still felt that unease, but it was temporarily forgotten when a couple unexpected tears fell from his eyes. _Dammit, pull it together,_ he scolded himself. He wiped at his eyes while he turned onto the highway.

He did a routine check of his mirrors, when he could have sworn he had seen that black Buick before. _But where_? He squinted in the rearview mirror, trying to make out the driver, but the windows were so dark they were almost blacked out. He knew he should stay focused on the road, so he pushed his probably irrational thoughts aside for now. He tried to get a license plate, but he only caught a glimpse of it before he had to slam on his brakes as a semi decided to dead stop in the lane he was in. _Jesus, could things get any weirder today?_

As he was thrown back into his seat, he no longer saw the black Buick in his line of sight. _Shit_. _Now what?_ He quickly typed the license plate into his notes app before the car behind him blared their horn, signaling Jay to move it along. He sighed, continuing on his drive back to the district. He shook his head, trying to convince himself that it was nothing. That he was just imagining things. Little did he know….

* * *

"Hey, you alright?" Hailey asked him at lunch later that day. The two had barely gotten a second alone as Intelligence spent the majority of their morning searching for Isaac Crawford. They had received a tip from an older woman on the Indiana/Illinois border, who reported seeing a young boy matching the Amber Alert description with a man, stopping at a gas station. When Intelligence ran down the lead, the witness told them that the man sped off towards the turnpike, and they knew where that led: Bakersfield or the City district, aka: a party area in Illinois. They knew which place the suspect was headed with their victim, and they were determined to make sure they never made it to that god-awful barnyard.

The team took off to Bakersfield, beating Tony DePalma there by minutes, ready to apprehend him when he arrived with Isaac. Hailey and Jay had taken Isaac back to the district, where the superintendent was waiting patiently with his wife. After the rest of the team made it back, Kevin and Kim took a run at DePalma first, but he wouldn't talk. Vanessa and Adam were up next, but they only got DePalma to sputter some nonsense about how he was "saving Isaac, and Tyler too." When Adam called BS, he clammed right back up. _Strike two_. Hailey and Jay took a run at him, which did not go as planned at all.

_"Tony, don't play dumb here, alright? We have you, red handed on the kidnapping of Isaac Crawford. Do you understand what I'm telling you right now?" Jay asked, slapping the manila folder down in front of him. _

_Tony sat stone faced, which angered Hailey. "Hey! DePalma! My partner just asked you a question!" She yelled, getting in the man's face. Though he didn't look intimidating at first glance – honestly his appearance made you do a double take at the off-putting weirdness of his long beard and ratty robe-like clothing – it was his words to Hailey that really got to her. _

"_I am not this Tony DePalma you speak of. My given name is Anthony Abraham. And I, as Anthony, do not accept judgment from you," he calmly said, still not looking Hailey in the eye. _

"_I'm sorry, what? What was that?" Hailey asked, an icey tone in her voice. She saw Jay give her _that_ look out of the corner of her eye; the one that said _Hey, careful_, but she ignored it._

_Tony – or Anthony Abraham rather – continued on: "The god on high is the only one I obey. I don't take kindly to this method of intimidation. I will not be undermined here, not by him, and certainly not by you." _

"_What the hell does that mean?" She asked, genuinely confused by his statement._

"_It means that I don't answer to you. Women have their place, and it's not here in man's work. You should be at home with your children." _

_Hailey went on the defensive and shoved him off his chair, smacking him across the face before Jay grabbed her up._

"_Get off!" She screamed, thrashing in his arms. _

"_You'll be sorry," DePalma sneered as he held his face, catching himself on the floor. _

"_Hailey! _Hailey," _he tried to calm her down, his voice pleading with her. When he got her to the locker room, she broke down in his arms, crying for all those kids, whether they survived the horror or not. It broke his heart, not knowing how exactly he could help her feel like they would get through this. _

"Hey, Jay, you still with me?" Hailey asked him, bringing him out of his earlier replay.

"Hm? Oh yeah, sorry. What were you saying?" He asked her, stabbing his fork into the salad that sat on his plate.

"I just asked if 6 was good to go up to my parent's house, and I figured we could all just stay for dinner before going back to the apartment?" She snuck a bite of her salad as she waited for his response.

"Yeah, that sounds fine Hails," he answered, twirling the lettuce absentmindedly.

"Hey," she said, dropping her fork and grabbing his hand instead. "Talk to me, where are you right now? Or where did you go to earlier?" She asked, referring to his enthralled state of mind mere moments ago.

"I was just thinking about earlier today. That interrogation was rough, Hailey. I don't know how you're so calm now," he said, feeling his blood boil at the thought of Tony DePalma. He knew Hailey hadn't heard his _you'll be sorry_, but Jay sure as hell did. And now aside from fearing for his daughter's safety, he feared for his wife's as well.

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry I got out of control in there. I appreciate you pulling me out of there. I think I got all my emotions out in the locker room," she said wistfully.

Jay contemplated telling her about what Tony said, which only brought his mind back to the mysterious Buick that he saw in the morning. _What the hell was going on? Were these things connected?_ But he didn't want to worry Hailey any more. He would look into it, he would be the one to take on that fear. Not her, he didn't want her to have that. He only wanted her to have their daughter, and as long as he could keep both of them safe, that's all he cared about.

* * *

"Hailey Belle, so nice to see you sweetheart," her mom greeted. Both parents hugged her, and all of them sat down to dinner together shortly after she and Jay had arrived.

"This looks wonderful," Jay noticed, the aroma of chicken pot pie cloaking the dining room. "And definitely much needed after our crazy day." He added, fork ready to dig in.

Hailey shot him a look that said, _you dummy_; to which Jay didn't say another word as she reassured her parents that things were fine, just a hard day on the job.

They ate their meal relatively fast, as Jay and Hailey were eager to get Amelia back home in time for bed.

"Well now the two of you come back anytime, alright? We don't get to see that precious angel enough!" Mr. and Mrs. Upton gushed about Amelia Rose.

"Will do," Jay stated as Hailey said goodbye to her mom and dad.

The drive home was relatively quiet too, both Jay and Hailey deep in their own thoughts. Jay's annoying conscience had decided to drudge up his earlier contemplation about whether or not to tell Hailey of today's _other_ events. Hailey's mind, on the other hand, was 100% focused on Amelia. She could barely take her eyes off her, even as she got a crook in her neck from the slight strain of looking into Jay's rearview mirror at her daughter's sleeping form.

Jay decided to break the ice first. "Hailey, about today, I–"

She interrupted, wrongly assuming he was apologizing for just recently at dinner. "No, Jay, it's alright. I know you didn't mean to worry my parents. I smoothed it over, so we're all good. No apologies necessary." She leaned over to kiss him when he paused, turning his head away slightly.

"No, Hails, that's not it. There's something I need to tell you," he bluntly stated. He watched her eyes widen in fear, so he tried to grab her hand to comfort her, but it was shaking so much that he couldn't get a solid grip on it. "Hey, babe calm down, okay? There's nothing immediately wrong, I promise. There's just a couple things you should know."

"Like what, Jay? What on earth could you have been keeping from me?" She asked, her voice higher than normal.

"Hailey, please," Jay tried to reason with her, hoping she'd get back down to a normal volume.

"No!" She yelled. "What the hell aren't you telling me?" She snapped, her eyes consumed with rage now.

"No Hailey, listen, it's not anything like what you're thinking, okay? It's not even about me, or you per say. But about Amelia."

He watched her eyes soften, her next words coming out quietly. "What's wrong, Jay? What is it? Did something happen?"

"Yes, and no." He replied, taking note of her confused expression.

"What does that mean?" She asked incredulously.

Jay sighed, deciding to pull off onto the shoulder so he could finish talking. "Look, this morning I could've sworn there was a black Buick following me up to your parent's house. But I think I was just letting my paranoia get the better of me, because it was gone halfway through the trip. Probably just someone happening to go the same way as me on the stupid highway. So I wasn't even gonna mention it…"

"….But obviously you did…er, you _are_, I mean. So what else happened? Please babe, tell me." Hailey said, her voice cracking under the weight of his words.

"I um, when Tony was on the ground in interrogation, he uh," he paused, biting the inside of his cheek to keep his emotions in check.

"He what? _What_?" Hailey pried, arching her brows in wait.

"He said that you'd pay for what happened today." Jay finally blurted out, his eyes never leaving Hailey's. He saw every gear turn in her brain, every emotion flash across her face.

"That son of a bitch," Hailey spat, her angry voice coming right back.

"Hails, hey," Jay grabbed her shoulders to steady her. "Look at me." He saw her eyes fill with tears, and he was fighting his own as he spoke. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to either one of you, alright? I'd die before I'd let any harm come to you, or to Amelia." He promised, his voice being the one to crack this time.

Hailey let a couple tears fall down her cheeks as she grabbed Jay's face lovingly. "God, Jay, don't you say that. You're not going anywhere, baby, okay? And neither am I, and Amelia is safe with us. I'm not letting anything happen to either one of you too, so I guess you're stuck with me," she said, letting out a sad little laugh.

Jay softly smiled at her, pulling her in for a hug that they both desperately needed. "I love you, you know that?"

"Love you too Jay. Always."

* * *

"Shh, shh, it's okay Amelia, it's okay…" Hailey soothed, rocking her little girl in her arms. Amelia hadn't stopped crying since they arrived home that evening. "Hey Jay, can you grab some formula from the fridge please?"

"Yeah," he called back to her from the living room. She heard him hop up from the sofa to open the fridge. He was back in their room with a bottle in a snap. "Here," he whispered, handing it to Hailey. She took it, gingerly feeding it to Amelia, who happily accepted it. _Phew_.

Hailey chuckled at her daughter. "Makes sense," she turned to her husband. "She did throw most of her food around her high chair at my parent's house."

Jay laughed at that, patting Amelia's head as she continued to suck on the bottle. "You good with her, or do you want me to take her since you've been holding her for almost an hour straight?"

Hailey shook her head. "No, I'm good. She's almost done," she whispered, motioning down to Amelia, who was in fact, halfway through her bottle already. "You go relax, I'll be out in a few."

Jay nodded before going out to resume his spot on in front of the TV where a Bears game was finishing up. He relaxed against the sofa for a little bit before feeling Hailey's arms wrap around his chest as she came around the back of the couch.

"Hey," her voice had that breathy tone that made Jay crazy.

"Hey yourself," he helped her hop over the armrest and into his own awaiting arms.

"So, wanna pick up where we left off this morning?" She smirked at him, wrapping her hands around the back of his neck, a knowing look in her eyes.

Jay didn't respond with words, instead opting to attach his lips to hers, loving that he could still taste strawberry on her lips after all this time.

Hailey hummed against him, the vibration against Jay's lips only fueling him more. He worked his way down the familiar path of her jaw and neck, committing her sighs to memory. She had just gotten finished unhooking his tie from his shirt when she realized he wasn't on her skin anymore. She paused, looking up to see him looking over her, towards the window on the other side of their dining room table.

"Jay?" She asked, wondering what in the world could have stopped him this time. He didn't move from his position, so she slid out from underneath him and sat up on the couch, waving her hand in front of his face. "Jay?" She tried again. Nothing. It was like he was a deer in headlights or something.

She went to grab his hand when he finally seem to shake himself out of it. He was blinking rapidly, suddenly sprinting from the couch to the front door, speeding down the entryway.

"Jay!" Hailey called, chasing after him. "What is it?" She asked, slightly panting after sprinting to keep up with him. He stood at the edge of the complex's parking lot, where the curb met the street.

"I saw the looming glow of headlights as a car pulled up by our house. I thought it was the Buick, and after what Tony...Anthony…whatever the hell his name is said, I didn't wanna take any chances. But now it's gone. Whoever it was is gone. I can't be sure if it's the same car, but I'm sure as hell gonna find out."

Hailey took a couple steps closer to Jay so she could tuck her arm into his and lean her head comfortingly on his shoulder. "Come on, let's go back inside. We'll all get some sleep and things will look different in the morning. They always do."

Jay sighed, but kissed the top of her head and agreed, wrapping her hand in his as they made their way back into the house.

* * *

"More coffee?" Hailey asked him as she poured herself a cup.

Jay looked up from his computer. "Yeah, one more cup if you don't mind," he asked, handing her his mug from the kitchen table.

Hailey filled it up, giving it right back. "What's got you up so early anyway? I know why I have to be up," she said, pointing her head at Amelia, who sat next to Jay in her high chair. "But you? I haven't the slightest idea," she said, shaking her head before sitting down to join him.

"I've gotta find out more about that car. So, I'm running a search for all black Buicks in the state." He furiously continued his typing, not looking up for a good few minutes.

"Jay," Hailey tried, but he wouldn't look up. "Jay!" She said a little louder this time, which finally got him to look up. When her blue eyes met his green ones, they no longer had to use words to communicate.

_You good?_

_ Yeah. You? _

Jay broke the trance, deciding enough was enough. He shut off his laptop before running upstairs to grab a quick shower before work. Hailey sighed, deciding to clean up the kitchen while she waited for him to come back down. She was bouncing Amelia on her hip when Jay came downstairs in his work clothes, ready to roll.

"Ready?" He asked her.

Hailey shook her head. "Yep. And you're sure Will's okay watching her today?"

Jay nodded. "I'm sure. He should be here in…." he was cut off by the sound of a car horn. "Now," he smirked. _Always on time, but never early. _That was essentially the Will Halstead way doing things.

"Finally," he joked with his brother as he jogged outside to meet him at his car.

"Sorry, sorry. Nat had Owen and he was not wanting to go to preschool today."

"Ah, well, not to worry Will. This one's not going to school today, just as a precaution until I get that Buick sorted," Jay said. Will nodded, understanding the situation; Jay had briefed him on the phone this morning.

"She'll be on her best behavior," Hailey added as Will got out of the car to take the child from her.

"I'm sure we'll have a great time," Will said, his baby voice taking over. Jay and Hailey shared a grin before saying their goodbyes to Amelia.

_Yeah, here's hoping._ They didn't need any more surprises, that's for sure.

* * *

Their day was a little different than normal at the 21st. Jay and Hailey were restricted to desk duty, per Voight's insistence after they had filled him in on all the odd happenings. Not like they complained. They were more than happy to have less work, even if that meant they obsessed over their daughter. Hailey had lost count of the amount of times she called Will to check-in; meanwhile Jay hadn't seen anything but the computer monitor for 2 hours trying to get a lead on that damn car.

"Oh for god sake! How many fucking Buicks are in the tristate!" He yelled, banging his hand against the desk.

Hailey jumped at the sound, but walked across to where he was sitting. "Hey, babe. Come on, just take a five-minute break…"

Jay sighed, running a hand over his face as he leaned back in his chair. Hailey's hands found his shoulders, trying to get him to relax.

"Oh," he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. "God, Hails, that feels great."

Hailey's tongue clicked against her cheek as she grinned. She smiled as she watched his eyes drift open, decided to tip his head back a tiny bit more so she could brush her lips against his. She smirked victoriously as his eyes shot open, completely filled with that same fire she saw last night. _Well, they were interrupted yet again…and no one's around at work right now. At least not in the bullpen anyway._

Hailey's smirk remained on her lips as she pulled Jay up, running him towards the closest available (and empty) room.

"What're we doing here?" He asked. Hailey looked at him for a second, thinking he was serious, but then when she caught the slight upturn of his mouth, he playfully shoved him down on the couch.

"_Yeah, like you don't know…_" She murmured in his ear as she worked her way down his body. She'd get him to relax, one way or another…

They managed to sneak back out to their desks just as they heard footfalls on the stairs. _Close one_. Hailey caught Jay's eyes, mischievously smiling at him. He smiled back, and she took notice of how his fire before was more of a simmer behind his eyes now. She knew she'd get back what he had received ten-fold tonight though, so she could live with only one of them having a happy ending to their lunchtime rendezvous.

Hailey jumped at the sound of Jay's voice an hour or so later, as he practically shoved the piece of paper in her face. She looked beyond the black ink, over to his eyes, which were super happy. "What is it?" She asked, unable to properly read the page as he had put it mere inches from her face.

"I got the Buick," he stated, whirling around to her chair to show her. He leaned in over her shoulder, pointing to the registration information. "The only thing is, it's connected to an organization, not a person."

And there it was, plain as day:

**BLACK 2017 BUICK**

**LICENSE PLATE: 304-FCE**

**REGISTERED TO: FBI, NYC**

"New York?" Hailey questioned, darting her gaze back to Jay. "What the hell is someone from New York doing outside our apartment?"

"I don't know, but I've got a location on the last known of the car. So, I'm gonna go confront whoever this person is and put an end to this right now." Jay grimly stated, leaving Hailey's side to grab his jacket.

"Jay wait, what if they're dangerous? Or if it really is the FBI, how do you know they'll talk to you?" Hailey wondered, her eyes begging him to say, _let me go with you_.

"Oh, I won't be asking them anything. They're gonna be the ones to _tell_ me what the hell they were doing outside our house. And why the hell they were following me yesterday. I don't care how I get my answers, but you better believe I'm not coming back empty handed."

"Jay, wait, shouldn't we tell Voight?" Hailey tried, cocking her head in the direction of their sergeant's office.

Jay just shook his head. "You can if you want, but I don't want you near this Hails. If it goes off-beat, then I wanna take the heat. Not you. So, I'll text you when it's over, alright? I promise." He walked over to kiss her cheek, and then was on his way without another word.

Hailey sighed, but let him go. She knew he'd do the right thing, and she also knew that he was doing this for the right reason. She'd do the same: parenthood makes it so. It's not your life that you worry about; but your son's or daughter's. They're your whole world, and she and Jay would do anything to keep theirs intact.

* * *

Jay pulled off to the corner of the Jumpstreet Java Coffee Shop. _I guess federal agents need their caffeine too_, he reasoned, looking through his binoculars to see if he could spot the agent (or agents) inside. No luck so far, but he'd wait all day if he had to. As soon as he saw the son of a bitch, they'd be in for it.

He was just about to text Hailey when he saw movement out of his left side mirror. The car's owner had walked over to the door, getting ready to unlock it. _Go time._ Jay jumped out, taking long strides across the street to where the car was.

"Chicago PD, stop right there," he yelled, flashing his badge and readying his weapon.

The person turned around slowly, and Jay was met with a face he hadn't seen in years. Hazel eyes stared back at him with shock and awe. He didn't recognize her at first because her hair was dyed a dark brown, so dark it was almost black. And it was actually down, a rarity for her if he remembered right.

"Erin?" He asked cautiously, even though he didn't need a verbal confirmation. "What the hell are you doing here?"

* * *

**A/N: Aaaaand scene. Hope you guys like this little twist. This chapter kind of had a little bit of everything - so I hope that's alright (the 4K words I mean). I'll update soon, promise! :) **


	4. Old Flame, New Hurt

**A/N: As promised, an update. Not much to say here, I want to let the chapter speak for itself. So dive in. **

* * *

"_Jay_…" Erin turned around to fully face him. "Let me explain," she said, but Jay didn't let her finish because he was running back to his car in an instant. "**Jay**!" She screamed, her usual raspy voice even more so with the strain.

"**What**?!" He snapped, his eyes waging war with hers. _This can't be happening_. "What the _hell_ could you possibly want, Erin!"

"Jay, please, just….please just let me explain myself. Five minutes. Can you give me that?"

He shook his head. "You talk like I owe you something. _I_ don't owe _you_ a damn thing!"

She sighed, but didn't raise her voice again. _Maybe she understood_. "Look, I know I have no right to just, come back here. Alright, you're hurt, and I hurt you. I get that. Don't you think I know that? But–"

He cut her off. "But what? Why are you here? Why me? Why now? What, did you not get enough gratification in New York in the big leagues? Or are you just here to see how I've been holding up? If you need proof I'm doing fine, I'll show you!"

She was armed with a comeback when he grabbed her arm and dragged her to his truck. "What the hell are you doing?" She asked, genuine confusion lacing her voice.

He didn't answer, he simply kept pulling her along, motioning for her to get into the passenger seat. She reluctantly did, and he took off, driving like a madman.

"Jesus, Jay. Slow the fuck down!" Erin said, exasperated with the way he was acting.

"Shut up, Erin" he spat, hoping she'd actually stay silent for the remainder of the ride. It worked, she didn't say another word as he finished the drive. When he pulled up to the one place he knew she'd remember, she slowly got out and eyed him, curious.

"Why here?"

"Just follow me," he ordered.

* * *

Hailey sat impatiently at her desk. _Dammit Jay_. She checked her phone one more time even though she knew there weren't any new texts from him. Or from anyone really. She twirled her pencil nervously around her memo that sat still only half-done on her desk. She really should be working, but her mind was obviously elsewhere.

_Where was he? Was he hurt? Was the person he found dangerous? Why hasn't he texted? _All these questions continued to swirl around in her skull, making her groan in frustration. "God," she rubbed her temples, trying to get herself to calm down. She smirked when she thought, _where was Jay with a back rub when you needed him_, knowing full well where that led the last time. She shrugged off the thought, wanting answers to the current problem she was facing instead.

"Fine then. I'll just find out for myself," she said to herself, sitting up straight in her seat. She began typing on her computer, her eyes scanning every little bit of information that came through. "Got it." She whispered, scribbling down the words she needed. "Jay, this better be good," she rolled her eyes as she grabbed her jacket and headed for his location.

* * *

"You can't be serious." Jay stated, like it wasn't up for debate.

"I am," Erin said, cocking her brow. "Now will you please, quit interrupting and let me continue?"

He leaned back on the barstool at Molly's, nursing his beer as she spoke.

"I'm here because I'm the head of a new division within the NYC FBI. I'm heading a task force specifically focused on crimes against children. Child Endangerment Division. That's my new title. And I'm here because we've been tracking Tony DePalma for almost a year. And when I saw he had been picked up in Chicago, I had to see it for myself."

"Did you know that we were the ones who caught him?" Jay asked, still not looking at her.

"No, but I did hear that he wasn't able to be detained for the normal 48. Nothing stuck as far as charges. He never admitted to anything, did he?"

Jay simply shook his head back and forth, taking another huge gulp of beer. Damn he needed a whiskey. He turned to ask Hermann for one when Erin grabbed his hand. He pulled it back, regretting his decision to let her talk. "What're you– Erin, no" he started, but she cut him off this time.

"No, listen you idiot. It's not like that," she said, taking a moment to place her hands at her sides. "There's something else you gotta know," she said.

"What? If It's about you being the one in the Buick, I already know that. That's how I found you in the first place," he said, his brows raising.

"But I need to explain _why_ I followed you," she tried, staring him down a little.

Jay averted his gaze, the moment feeling too intimate for people who were practically strangers now.

"Okay, so explain."

"I had to make sure that Amelia was safe with you and Hailey," she openly answered. Jay almost spit out his beer. _She knew?_

Erin bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing, but wasn't successful as she saw Jay try to get the foam off his mouth. "You're still so sloppy with drinks, aren't ya Halstead?" She chuckled, leaning over to grab another napkin for him.

Jay rolled his eyes, but accepted the napkin. "Yeah yeah," he sarcastically replied. When he was done, he turned to face her. "But seriously, how did you–" he tried to put the words together.

Erin smirked. "How did I _know_ about you two? Jay, give me some credit. I'm FBI, after all."

"And what? You always keep tabs on your exes with your heavy hitting FBI shit?" He quipped, a little weirded out by it, but also not surprised, given that it _was_ Erin.

"Hey!" She laughed, hitting his arm.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He raised his hands in mock defense. "Sorry, couldn't help it."

"But Jay, please, can we be serious for a second here?" she asked.

He noticed the change in her tone. "Yeah," he said, pausing to order that whiskey. He felt like he would need it once she was done. Hermann slid it down, and Jay graciously took a sip, liking the burn in his throat. It gave him a distraction from the freaking tornado that was Lindsay. He couldn't believe she just showed up here; even if it was for work. And what? Couldn't give him a heads up? Him, out of _all _people? It didn't make sense. He had forgotten she was speaking until she tapped his arm.

"Jay, you still with me?" She asked, searching his face for a second.

He blinked, coming back to the present moment. "Sorry, yeah, I'm good."

"I followed you to Lake Forest to make sure no one else was tailing you there. I knew you and Hailey had some worries about DePalma, so I wanted to make sure nothing happened."

Jay looked at her sideways. "And let me guess? Voight readily gave up this information?" He fought an eye roll, knowing the answer already.

"Yes, he did. I did call him, but only at first to let him know I was coming to town and I asked how things were. He was really worried about the two…or should I say, _three_ of you. You know how he is with little kids. He's such a softie," she said, looking over her shoulder for a minute.

"Yeah. Well, okay I guess that makes sense. But why Amelia? Is she in trouble? Should Hailey and I be worried for her safety?"

Erin fiddled with the paper-thin straw in her cosmopolitan. "No," she said quickly.

Jay eyed her suspiciously. "_Erin_," he warned. "The truth please."

Her eyes locked with his, and she knew how important it was. "No, she's really not in immediate danger, alright? But DePalma is still pissed about the interrogation you guys put him through. He doesn't like being quote-un-quote disrespected. Especially by women."

Jay shuddered at the reminder of Hailey's run-in with Tony at the station. _Yeah, that didn't go well for anybody involved_.

"So, what do we do?" Jay asked.

Erin didn't miss his mention of _we_, though she knew the we meant he and Hailey. She was not a part of that anymore; hadn't been for a long time.

"Look," she said, absentmindedly taking his hand. "I–"

"What the hell is going on here?" Both Erin and Jay whirled their heads around to the direction of the new voice.

_Oh shit_.

* * *

"Jay?" Hailey asked incredulously. "_And Erin_," she added with a hint of biting sarcasm. "I should've known. That is just– that is just _perfect_." She said, shaking her head and throwing up her hands. "Just fucking fantastic," she spat, turning to walk away before they saw her get emotional.

"Hailey, wait, it's really not what you're thinking…." Jay said, getting up to grab her. Hailey wrenched her arm away from him, eyes darting between him and Erin. She noticed Erin still hadn't let go of Jay's hand.

"_Uh huh_," she said pointedly, looking down at the former flames joined hands.

Erin quickly dropped Jay's fingertips she had held onto. "Not even close," she tried, but Hailey disgusted face sliced right through her. "I– Hailey, please," she was having trouble trying to reassure her that nothing was going on between her and Jay.

Jay jumped in where Erin left off. "Hailey please, there's nothing going on here. It wasn't what it looked like. Erin's actually here to help,"

Hailey let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, I bet she is. Helping _herself_ to _you, _right?" She craned her neck around Jay to see Erin. She crossed her arms, waiting for one of them to tell her otherwise.

"Hailey, no, god you gotta be–" Erin started, biting back the last of her sentence when she saw Hailey's eyes fill with rage.

"_I_ don't have to be doing anything right now. It's the two of you who need to start talking!" Hailey yelled.

"Hailey, please, calm down babe," Jay whispered, trying to grab her hand, but she slapped him instead.

"_Don't you dare_," she sneered. "Don't you dare try to turn this around on me. I don't need to calm down. You're the one that needs to change how they're acting! I can't believe this, I honestly, god I am such an idiot! I should've known…." She shook her head rapidly, feeling the tears form in her eyes now. She gave them both one last look, not caring if they saw the waterworks. "You two deserve each other." She ran out of the bar before either of them could say anything else.

"Hailey!" Jay ran after her, but she was gone. He worriedly ran his hands through his hair. "Dammit!" He cursed, glaring at Erin. "I knew this was a mistake," he said. He stomped back inside to grab his jacket, finishing off the last of his whiskey.

"Jay, wait a minute, you've been drinking," Erin warned, concern filling her hazel eyes.

"**Erin**! I don't need you to save me anymore! The only woman I care about ran out that door. And all I care about is getting her back," he said, pain evident in his voice.

He stormed out of Molly's, praying that he'd be able to find her. _Hailey, I'm sorry_. That was the only thought that ran through his mind as he drove.

* * *

"Will?" Hailey called. Jay's brother wasn't outside with Amelia like he said he would be. She unlocked the door, pushing it open to find the kitchen and living room empty. _Maybe they both fell asleep_, Hailey thought, knowing Will's work hours weren't exactly sleep-friendly. She made her way back to the bedroom, but to her surprise, no sign of Will or Amelia.

She decided to call Will again. She let it ring for a second before acknowledging how stupid his voicemail box message sounded: _This is Dr. Will Halstead. If this is a medical emergency, why the hell are you calling me?_

"Will, good lord you need a new sense of humor," Hailey said, shaking her head as she turned on her heels to go back out to the front of the house. She had managed to make herself stop crying on the drive over to the apartment. And she knew she had to put on a happy face for her daughter. And whenever she did see Will, she didn't wanna have to be the one to tell him that his brother is the worst person ever to her right now. She had just made it to the doorway when she heard a rustling sound. She hung up the phone and looked around the bedroom. The bed was still made, and nothing seemed to be missing.

She was going to disregard it as 'mom brain' when she heard an audible groan coming from the closet. _Oh Jesus_. She cautiously walked over to the closet, really wishing she hadn't left her gun at the station. She carefully opened the closet door, letting out a scream at her findings.

There, on the floor of her closet, lied Will, bruised and in a world of hurt. "Oh my God, Will!" Hailey said, her voice still high pitched and shaky. She tried to take a breath, leaning down to help him.

He groaned, coughing slightly, but was able to sit up. "Hailey…." He whispered, his eyes only opening halfway.

Hailey shook her head. "Yeah Will it's me. What the hell happened? Will, who did this to you?" She asked, grabbing her phone to call 911. She was in the midst of dialing when her mind raced. "Oh god, Will. _Will_! Where's Amelia?!"

Before Will had the chance to answer, Hailey's eyes went wide and she raced around the whole house, checking every corner and crevice she could think of. _No no no_. Will shuddered at her blood curdling scream. She collapsed on the kitchen floor, unable to get herself up from the fetal position. _No no no_.

* * *

"Hails? You here?" Jay called out as he opened the door to his apartment. Her car was there, as was Will's. Maybe they were chit chatting and hadn't heard him pull up. "Hailey? Will?" He tried calling for the both of them. He had just made it to the entrance into the kitchen when he heard muffled sounds.

He craned his head around the table, only to see his wife, balled up on the floor, sobbing. "Oh my God, Hailey!? Hailey, baby, what's wrong?! What is it?!" He said, cradling her up in his arms.

"She–she –she" she stuttered, her voice still broken up by sobs. "She's–" she choked back some more tears before finally getting the whole phrase out. "She's gone," she cried, holding onto Jay for dear life.

Jay held onto her tightly, the words not fully registering in his brain yet. _She's gone_. _Who's gone?_ "_Who_, Hailey, _who_ are you talking about?"

His blood ran cold with the realization. _No, oh god no. _He was overcome by his own emotion, the sadness raking through his body. He clung to Hailey, crying with her at the thought of their little girl, gone. _What the hell were they gonna do?_

As if reading his thoughts, Hailey whispered, "Jay? Jay, what are we gonna do?"

Jay looked up at her, his vision blurring a little through the tears. But he took both of Hailey's hands in his, their foreheads touching for a second. He locked his eyes onto hers, a meeting of green to blue that had never meant more than it did in this very moment. "We're going to get her back."


	5. Evil Lives Here

"Halstead this better be good, I–"

"**Trudy**!" Jay yelled at his sergeant over the phone. "_Please_, just listen to me. Get Voight. Get everyone. Please–" he paused to choke back another wave of sadness that threatened to drown him. He couldn't believe he had to say these words out loud. The words that he'd seen haunt parents for days, months, _years_ after. "Amelia's been kidnapped."

"Oh my God," Gone were all traces of sarcasm from Platt's voice, as they were replaced with genuine concern for her two detectives and their baby girl. "Alright, okay. You and Hailey stay there. We'll come to you, ASAP, I promise."

"Thank you, Trudy!" Hailey shouted into the receiver, still clinging onto Jay's arm that didn't hold the cell phone.

"Of course."

Once Jay hung up the phone, he turned to Hailey. "Hailey, what about Will? Where's Will?" He watched her eyes go wide.

"Oh God, Jay I'm so sorry…. He's probably still in the bedroom. He put up a good fight, but he has some bruising on his arms and a gash on his cheek. I'm sorry, I ran around the house trying to find Amelia, and I just completely lost it on the floor there….I didn't mean, I mean, I hope you don't think I–" her voice quieted after each word passed her lips. She didn't need to finish the sentence for him to know what she meant: _I hope you didn't think I did that on purpose_.

Jay shook his head, placing his hand over hers. "God no Hailey, of course not. I can't even imagine how terrifying this was for you. I'll go tend to Will, you just stay here and I'll be down in a little bit. Okay?" There wasn't much emotion behind his voice, and she could see that his eyes were glazed, most likely from the endless tears he had been shedding.

"Yeah. Sure. Okay," Hailey said, barely whispering. She looked down at the floor, deciding to get up and get a glass of water. She watched as Jay ran down the hall, calling for his brother. She hoped Will wasn't worse off than her initial assessment. Then she knew she wouldn't be the only one of them who was mad at the other. Lord knew they didn't need _any_ more personal drama today.

As if on cue, Jay's phone rang. Hailey didn't even know he had left it on the kitchen table, but he did. She cautiously picked it up, turning it over to see the caller ID. _Lindsay_. "Well that's just– fuck!" She cringed to herself before deciding to answer the call herself. _Not like today could get any worse, right? _

"Hello?"

"Ja– _Hailey_," Erin said sharply.

"Yeah it's me. What the hell could you possibly want now, huh?"

"Look Hailey, I know you're pissed at me, and you have every right to be, but this isn't about me anymore," she started, before Hailey talked over her.

"Oh, so it's about Jay again? Is that what you mean? Erin, you can't be serious. I–"

"_Hailey!" _Erin yelled, and Hailey went radio silent. Erin hadn't used that tone with her since that unfortunate day in the interrogation room when she had told her to get out if she didn't wanna be a part of what was about to go down. "You've gotta know that it's not Jay I'm talking about. It's Amelia, your little girl."

"What? Is this some kind of joke?" Hailey could hear her voice veer into hysterics. "What the hell do you mean? Do you know something?! Erin, god I don't care about you and Jay, but so help me God if you know where she is–"

"Wait, what're you talking about? Amelia's missing?"

"**Yes. **She was taken from our home maybe 30 minutes ago by now. Will was attacked and put into the closet while whoever it was made a getaway with my baby. So, if you know _anything_, now's the time to talk."

"Hailey, I– dammit!" She cursed, and Hailey left the phone away from her ear as she heard the beep of a car horn. "Hailey, this is exactly what I was trying to _prevent_. That was the whole reason I came back to Chicago. That's what I was telling Jay at Molly's when you happened upon us. God, I swear, you've gotta believe me Hailey. I'll even text you a picture of my new credentials if that's what it'll take. I'm with the Children Endangerment Task Force for New York's FBI. That's my new title. I focus specifically on crimes against children – and I came to Chicago because I saw that Tony DePalma was caught."

Hailey felt her breath hitch at the mention of DePalma. _That's who has Amelia_. "It's him," she said, her voice rising as she paced frantically around the kitchen. "Oh god, Erin, it's him. It's Tony, that's who took Amelia! Oh god, why did we– why did I leave her here? Why wasn't I here to protect her or to help Will? God this is all my fault!" She was way past caring what Erin thought of her, so she simply continued to cry on the phone as she tried to comprehend the dire situation she was in.

"Hailey, listen to me. _Please_. None of this, I mean **none of this **is your fault, alright?" Hailey could hear the sincerity in Erin's voice, but it did little to assuage her guilt. _It's a mother's job to protect her child or children_.

She was about to say something else when she heard two sets of feet pitter-pattering down the hall. _Shit, shit_. She quickly composed herself, accidentally dropping Jay's phone on the table. "Shit," she cursed, picking it up, trying to close it when she saw the Halstead brothers out of the corner of her eye. _Busted_.

"Hailey? Who's on the phone?" Jay asked nervously. Hailey just shook her head, handing it to him so he and Erin could talk a minute. She busied herself by talking with Will, seeing if she could get any more information out of him.

A minute later, Jay had hung up his cell, turning to his brother and his wife. "Erin said she'll meet up with Voight, and they'll all come over here in a little bit. She will give them all the FBI intel on DePalma, and Intelligence will run point."

"Will we be allowed to go in too?" Hailey asked, even though she likely knew the answer.

Jay looked at her, uncertainty clouding his eyes. "Hails, you know how Voight is. We're way too close to this…"

Hailey sniffled, but nodded in agreement. "You're probably right."

Jay tentatively took a couple steps closer to her, forcing her to look up at him. "I'm gonna take Will home, alright? He's all bandaged up; besides, Natalie said she'll look after him. But then when I get back, you and I are gonna talk, okay?" His voice was so gentle, Hailey was mesmerized by it. He'd never been so, _soft_ with her. Sure, he was always a nice, kind, gentleman; even though she knew he was just as fragile as she was, _hearing_ it was an entirely different story.

When the brothers left, Hailey decided to finally get that glass of water. She poured a little bit into the cup, the ice cold hitting her like a ton of bricks, shocking her system a little. She took a deep breath as she felt the cold liquid practically be absorbed into her body. She decided to grab a paper towel and run it under the water too, pressing it to her face to physically cool off.

She let out a heavy breath before sitting down at the kitchen table. She was anxious for Jay to get back so she could tell him what a fool she was. Well, she had her reasons in the beginning, but now that she knew the truth, she should at least apologize. He deserved that much. She just hoped – no, scratch that. She knew him. She knew him better than anyone. – she knew that he'd apologize to her too. As long as they made up and were completely united again, that's all she cared about. Because she knew that was the only way they were going to get Amelia Rose back.

* * *

"Hush little baby, don't say a word…" Anthony's devilish voice gave a whole new meaning to the classic lullaby. Amelia was still crying in her crib, obviously desperate for her parents. "_I'm_ the only parent you have now," he harshly said, which only spurred further tears from her.

"God, why can't they all obey me like those ones do!" Anthony wondered, snapping his head from the toddlers to the elementary-aged children who were all in this dungeon he'd created. In total, there were 15 kids stored in the barn where he was currently standing. Over the course of the few years he'd been running this business, he'd had at one point over 200. He couldn't take all the credit for that though: he had help in the reproduction department.

He smiled to himself, remembering the fear in the few women's eyes that he had his way with. That was their only use: a vile wrapped in a human body; his to abuse then discard when he was finished. He picked up a tattered photograph he had taken from his recent victim's house. He studied it, running his finger over the face of the blonde-haired woman staring back at him.

He knew once he saw her riled up in that interrogation room that she'd be a fun one. The only thing he loved more than obeying subjects were the ones he got to submit to his control. The ones who weren't easy to tame, but could be once he was done breaking them down. His mind snapped back to the other one: the obvious man in her life. He knew when he watched the brown haired, green-eyed guy wrap his arms around her waist that they were the ones who were together. _No matter_, Anthony thought to himself. _I can get rid of him easily. I did it successfully with all the other husbands, fiancés, and boyfriends. Who's to say the same can't be done with one of Chicago's finest? _

He smoothed out the left edge of the photograph, where she stood, poised with a bright smile on her face. That was the exact opposite of what she'd have when Anthony was through. His eyes darted angrily over to _him_, standing next to her with his arm wrapped oh-so-protectively around his wife and baby girl. Anthony tore the photo in two, ripping it off-center, taking the husband's half and throwing it in the garbage. He grabbed the lighter from his pocket, before deciding at the last second to throw both pieces into the trash can. He dropped the light into the trash, and as the flames danced into the air, he felt excited for what was to come. If only they knew.

* * *

"Hey Hailey," Jay said as he drove home from Will's. "I'm almost back, just 5 minutes. Have you heard from the team at all?"

"No, but Adam texted me and told me they were following up on a couple leads from CIs, so they'd be by as soon as that was done – if nothing panned out there, that is," she added worriedly.

"Dammit, we know it's DePalma, right? Why don't we just go after the SOB?" Jay asked, biting back his anger.

"Jay," Hailey warned, and he could imagine her eye roll now. "Don't be crazy now. We can't– I mean, we _can_, but we shouldn't." She reconfigured her sentence, hoping he'd understand her reasoning.

He sighed before answering her. "I know, I know. I just hate not knowing…." She could hear the sadness in his voice now; the guilt; the wishful thinking; the what-ifs. He didn't have to say another word because Hailey had been thinking those same thoughts since the event took place.

"Hails?" He asked, bringing her out of her own mind.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Turn around, I'm here babe. And we should talk."

Hailey whirled around, finding Jay standing in the doorway. She ran up to him, giving him the biggest, warmest hug of her life. She needed to communicate his worth to her in that gesture. "I'm so glad you're back," she murmured, resting her head on his chest.

"I'm glad you're glad, Hails," he said, kissing the top of her head. She broke away from him, taking his hand so they could go sit comfortably on the sofa.

"I'm sorry," they both said simultaneously, causing the two of them to nervously chuckle.

"You first," Hailey said, giving him a pointed glance.

"Alright," Jay said, sighing. "Hailey, I am so sorry that I hurt you. I am so sorry that I even talked to Erin. I should've just walked away when I saw it was her that was following us in the stupid Buick. But when she told me she was just making sure Amelia was alright; and that she was working the DePalma case, I wanted to hear her out. God, I'm so so sorry that you thought there was something between us. I–" He reached for her hand, which she let him take. "Hailey, you know I love you right? You know I've always loved you. You're my whole world. Well, you and Amelia. But you were my first. You're my first partner that I successfully opened up to. You're the first person that made me understand what love _really_ is. You're my best friend, my confidant, my wife, a loving mother to Amelia, and I'm the luckiest guy in the world to even know you, let alone be the one to walk in this life alongside you. I'm so sorry if I ever made you feel any different." He gave her a soft smile, and it broke her heart to see him get teary-eyed.

She squeezed his hand to reassure him that she heard what he had to say. "Jay, I love you. So so much. I've always loved you, and I'll keep loving you forever. Nothing's gonna change that. I don't know what came over me exactly back at Molly's…I guess just the initial shock of seeing Erin, and it just brought back so many old memories of my first days in Intelligence….and I mean, I guess I just reverted back to that slightly insecure detective who was in love with you from the moment I met you, and seeing her with you just ignited all those wonderings, those possible unrequited feelings back then…." She admitted, biting her lip as she only sometimes looked at him.

He opened his mouth to say something else, but once he processed what she had told him, he closed it quickly. "You– wow. Hailey, I didn't know that. I'm sure that was tricky to deal with–" he blushed, looking away from her too.

She smacked his arm playfully, "Hey now, what in the world do you have to be embarrassed about, mister! I just confessed my love for you that occurred way back when; and you're the one who's red in the face? I don't think so!" She gave him her first genuine smile all day.

He looked at her longingly, lovingly, before leaning in to kiss her. Slow and deep, he took his time pouring his feelings into it. "I don't know if I loved you then, but I sure as hell was infatuated with you. Remember what I told you at the hospital. That spunk you had? Sexy as hell," he smirked at her, and now it was her turn to blush.

"God, I love you, even when you're the stupidest person alive, Jay Halstead." She quipped, earning another kiss from him.

"So, we're good?" He asked her, pulling back and eyeing her seriously for a moment.

"We're good, we're always gonna be good, babe." She said, repeating his words he said to her what seemed like a whole other lifetime ago.

* * *

"Don't worry, Amelia. Your mommy and daddy will be here soon," Anthony deadpanned, patting the little one's head. He picked up his phone, dialing the number he needed.

"Voight," Hank answered the phone in the district.

"Sergeant Voight. So nice to finally talk to you…" Anthony jeered.

"Who is this?" Hank's gruff voice sounded more annoyed than anything else. He did not have time for this. His team was just getting ready to head over to Jay and Hailey's to investigate Amelia's disappearance.

"I'm the one you're looking for…" Anthony singsonged. He held the phone over the baby section of the barn for dramatic effect.

It got Voight's attention. "DePalma," he acknowledged, saying it loud enough so his team's heads were on a swivel. Adam and Kim raced to the computer to track the phone; while Vanessa and Kevin ran out to the parking lot to pull the cars around to the front.

"Yes, that's right. It is I, Anthony Abraham. The Prophet, chosen by God to save these children from Hell. The Hell on Earth, that is. All the sin they've seen, from their parents to the media they consume."

"What do you want, Anthony?" Voight was growing impatient. This convoluted psycho-babble was not going to keep him from getting to DePalma. Not for a second. So, if that was his end goal, Voight and the rest of Intelligence were committed to make sure he failed miserably.

"What do I want? Oh, what do _I_ want? What I want, Sergeant, is for your detectives to see this realm I have created. To see my power in action! To know that am the almighty, the one who is always in control."

"And calling me is supposed to help that plan?" Voight asked.

"Precisely." Anthony reasoned, the venom dripping from his voice. "Give Jay and Hailey a message for me. Tell them to come to 5151 Kingsbury Lane, midnight tonight. Tell them to come alone. If I see you or any other member of your team, Amelia will be the first sacrifice. Do we understand each other, Sergeant?"

"I understand," Hank said matter-of-factly, before hanging up the phone with DePalma.

"Sarge?"

"Boss, what's our next move?"

Voight faced his remaining team members with a solemn expression. "_We_ don't do anything. _We_ just focus on helping Hailey and Jay through this, whatever means necessary. Understood?"

He saw Kevin, Vanessa, Adam, and Kim's heads all shake up and down.

"Good." Voight sighed, dreading his next phone call.

* * *

"Hank, what is it?" Jay's voice was riddled with concern, which only made this even harder.

"Jay, are you and Hailey at home still?"

"Yes, why? Hank, did something happen?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

Hailey could only watch in horror as her husband's facial expressions went from bad to worse. It was only when Jay hung up the phone that she could get her words out. "What is it?"

Jay shook his head, blinking a few times in her direction. "That was, that was Voight."

Hailey grabbed his hands, her eyes anticipating the rest. "And?"

She watched Jay's eyes fill with dread. "And DePalma wants us to come alone, to that barnyard from Hell, to get Amelia back."

She leaned in, wrapping her arms around him. "So, we do it. And we do it together."

Jay hugged her close. "Always, Hailey. Always."

* * *

**A/N: Yikes - lots to unpack here, huh? Hope ya'll are hanging in there – can't promise it'll get better any time soon; but it'll be one hell of ride for Upstead, _that_ I can promise. Hopefully you'll stick with me to see how things pan out. Thanks for reading & leaving feedback - I love reading what you guys think of it! **


	6. Maintain the Pain

**A/N: This chapter is intense towards the second half. If it's too much, don't continue reading. I'm honestly not even sure if I can explain why I went this route; I just wanted to show Hailey and Jay in the extremist of extremes, seeing how far they'd go. If you do make it to the end of the _chapter_, please do take comfort in knowing that this is **NOT** the end of the _story._**

* * *

As it grew closer to the meeting time, Hailey grew more nervous. She didn't understand why DePalma would have them come alone. Or maybe she did - she just didn't want to admit it to herself. She saw how he had looked at her, with such anger in his eyes it felt like it was burning through her skin. She felt that same nervous heat spread throughout her body as she tried to relax. She curled up closer to Jay, who was so tense that Hailey could feel the muscles in his body contract as he attempted to sigh. His arm was still slung lazily around her shoulder, the two of them continued to sit unmoving from the current position they were in.

"Are you sure we can do this?" She whispered, not wanting to look at him. She didn't want to see what was behind his eyes. She knew he was a little bit worried too, but she also knew that if she locked eyes with him it would make this all the more real - and she didn't want to be any more overwhelmed than she already was.

"We don't have a choice," his voice was just as soft as hers, but he gently squeezed her shoulder, giving her a jolt of comfort that she so desperately needed. "But look at all that we've already been through, Hails. We've gotten through so much..._together_; and like I said earlier, that's how we'll get Amelia back. We work together, and that prick DePalma won't know what hit him."

She nodded, taking in a deep breath and letting her eyes close for a second. She imagined the moment that they'd finally get to hold Amelia Rose again: the smiles on their faces, their eyes flooded with relief. All 3 of them connected, like they were supposed to be. She sighed, before opening her eyes to finally look at Jay, who was already looking down at her.

"What?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"I'm just so sorry Hails. I feel like this is somehow my fault," he admitted, a couple tears falling from his eyes.

"Hey," she said, sitting up and taking his hand. "Don't even go there. This is not your fault, it's not my fault, it's not anyone's fault but Anthony's. He's the one who came into our house and took the most important thing in our lives - for what, I don't even want to think about - but regardless, that's where we are. And like you said, we've gotta stick together on this. That's the only way this is gonna work."

He nodded, giving her a soft smile. He held her gaze for a moment to say _thanks_, to which she reciprocated with a _welcome_. They eventually made their way to the kitchen where they were waiting for Voight and the rest of Intelligence to arrive. They heard the doorbell, and Jay ran to answer it.

"Hey," he greeted his coworkers. They all entered the apartment, gathering around the kitchen table.

"What do we know so far?" Jay asked, to which Adam, Vanessa, Kim, Kevin, and Hank all shared glances.

"What is it?" He was not above pleading at this point for information.

"Please, you guys," Hailey interjected, her voice breaking a bit.

"We, uh, we found some things out about Tony...Anthony Abraham...I mean," Adam started to say.

"He's been doing this for years. And if the kids aren't exactly what he wants, or he can't control them, he'll get rid of them by any means necessary," Hank finished the grim prospect.

Hailey's hand went over her mouth as she attempted to hide her shock. Jay's hands turned white as he gripped the counter.

"We're not saying that's what's currently happening..." Kim tried to keep them calm. "But that's the pattern he's followed." Kevin added.

"Okay, so then what's the point of baiting us then? What the hell does he want?" Hailey asked.

"Hailey, you remember how he said you'll pay for this? I think he wants us to have to see Amelia in that space...I think that'll give him some twisted kind of gratification." Jay answered, dropping his head at the sheer gall of that guy.

"Okay, so say that is his plan, how can we outsmart him?" She asked, looking at the rest of the team for some help.

"Well, we'll definitely wire you guys up," Adam affirmed.

"And we'll be put a couple on the roof of the building across the street," Voight said.

"Me and Kim will watch from the ground," Vanessa offered.

"Above all, just try to keep your cool," Kevin reminded them, to which Hailey and Jay shared a look, but agreed.

"Alright, let's do it," Hailey resigned.

"We're gonna be alright, Hails, I promise." Jay swore, kissing the top of her hand before they helped unload the surveillance equipment.

* * *

"Shut up!" Anthony Abraham's voice rang out against the boarded-up walls and windows. The children cowered in the corner, eyes wide with fear. "You ungrateful, insubordinate fools!"

He got up from the chair, his weight bringing it down enough for him to throw it the rest of the way across the room. "I will not be disrespected like this."

"We're sorry," a little boy bravely spoke from the left side of the room. Anthony Abraham looked at him, glaring.

"And what? You think that's all it takes for you to be forgiven? The highest on high will not stand for this insolence. Neither will I," he paused, sucking in a hollow gulp of air. "Your punishment will be handed down from him; and while I wait for your sentence, you will sit in the dark, in silence until I return."

He flipped the sole light out in the room, causing a few of the younger children to cry in fear of the total darkness that now surrounded them. Anthony Abraham only shook his head, locking the door behind him as he went upstairs.

"Ah, there she is," he purred, picking up Amelia Rose from the crib. The little girl was awoken, but her face was frozen, like she was so unsure of what was happening that she didn't know how to react. Made sense: after all, she was far from home; this man before her was neither of her parents; and she did not know of her fate here. "My perfect little one," he traced an X with his finger over her forehead, imagining her being marked as his own in the future. "Soon, Amelia. Soon," he said before putting her back into the crib.

He interlocked his hands, his mouth curling into an evil smile. "We just have to wait for your mommy and daddy to join the fun. Wouldn't want them to miss this – it'll be one hell of a ride."

* * *

"You good?" Jay asked Hailey for what seemed like the millionth time. They were driving to 5151 Kingsbury Lane in an unmarked vehicle, per Voight's instruction. The rest of Intelligence was where they had said they'd be: hidden and out of sight.

Hailey sucked in a breath, knowing that Jay was just concerned for her, but if she was being honest, his questioning was making her _more_ nervous – which is exactly what she _didn't_ want. "Yes, for the thousandth time, I am good."

She unclenched her fists as Jay reached over to grab her hand with his free one that wasn't attached to the steering wheel. "Okay, okay." His voice was oddly soothing to her in this particular moment, and she found herself wondering how in the world he seemed so calm right now. Course, she knew him. She knew his anger was bubbling underneath the surface, just threatening to explode at any moment. She decided to intertwine her hand with his and pull it up to her lips, quickly kissing it. His eyes met hers in a fleeting, but important glance, and she knew they could do this. They _had to_ do this. For Amelia. _Hang on baby girl, we're coming for you._

When they pulled up to the address, Jay cut the headlights, blanketing the environment in midnight skies. They stole one last look at each other, before both nodding and slowly getting out of their car. Hailey adjusted her belt as she planted her feet on the dirt. Trudy had given her a pocketknife; Jay an extra special "key" on the keyring – one that would detonate the car if they needed an immediate distraction to escape. They were both trained in hand-to-hand combat, so they weren't concerned if they did have to fight DePalma; they were only concerned about him using Amelia as bait, or worse, as a hostage to stifle their plan of attack.

They had made it to the front "door", which was really just a half cut-into screen door that barely latched up. Jay pushed it open, cracking the screen the rest of the way open. Hailey followed close behind him, cringing as she heard the floorboards creak underneath their feet. The last thing they needed was a trap door, or to fall through the fucking floor in this godforsaken place.

She was so caught up in her own head that she didn't realize there was a loose screw, which caused her to falter a little bit on her feet. Jay reached behind him to grab her arm before she fell, and she graciously took the hand that helped her back up to her feet.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"Sure thing," he whispered back. She knew he was smiling at her, even if she couldn't see his face in the dark. She knew the look of protection, but also of confidence that she could hold her own, that he gave her. This was one of those moments.

They had made it down the hallway when a bright white light jarred their vision. "Ah yes, the proud parents. Welcome," the booming voice sounded like it was being played over a loudspeaker, and the fact that neither of them could see the person speaking added to the effect.

Hailey had her hand up in front of her face, as did Jay, the two of them trying to make out the figure lurking before them. Tony DePalma, er – Anthony Abraham rather – came into full view, his body blocking some of the light that had blinded Jay and Hailey.

"Come with me," he simply stated, his hands still clasped in front of him.

Hailey began to take a step forward when Jay placed his arm in front of her waist, stopping her. He went first instead, holding Hailey's hand as they followed DePalma through the barn.

"Here's where…" he started as he unlatched the door. Jay hesitated for a moment before taking a step forward, Hailey following suit. "Your journey ends." Tony's words didn't even register to the couple as the taser's rays were the only light that emanated from the darkened path.

Hailey didn't even have time to react as the shock flooded her body, her cry of pain the only sound Jay heard before he tried to fight off Tony. He felt his finger on the key, but couldn't press the button before DePalma stuck him too, sending him flying backwards with Hailey towards the doomed black hole.

Hailey hit the floor first, and she felt the audible scrape of the back of her head to the splintering wood below her. Jay was unfortunately behind her, having collapsed onto the ground just as forcefully. Not that it mattered since they couldn't see anything in the darkness to begin with, but they both fought like hell to keep their eyes open. Too bad the pain was winning the battle this time.

Hailey thought she felt Jay's fingertips brush her hand, but she couldn't make it out before her eyes gave in, the blackness enveloping her quicker than she planned.

Jay winced at the impact, barely able to move his head to look up and see if DePalma was still above them. He swore he saw a flash of light above them, but his eyes shut too before he could get a good read. He had tried to reach Hailey's hand, but his body gave up the effort, and despite all his desperation, succumbed to the same darkness as his wife.

* * *

"Wake up," Jay's eyes were cloudy, but he tried to pry them open. "I said, **get up**!" The voice screamed louder, and he turned his head to see Hailey's eyes staring back at him.

Her usual bright blue eyes were darkened by fear, and he was certain his expression mirrored her own, as he felt the trepidation grip him like a vice. Ironically, the chains that held his wrists back didn't help matters. He saw that Hailey's were locked up too. _Shit. _

Before he or Hailey could say anything, DePalma's voice rang out above them. "He who summoned me, he who claimed me as the prophet, see to it that you are made aware of the first two irredeemable souls that stain your holy ground," he glanced down at Jay and Hailey, making sure they were aware that it was them Tony was referring to.

Jay scoffed, and Hailey glued her eyes to the floor to keep them from rolling at the idiocy this guy was spouting.

"**Silence**!" Anthony Abraham yelled, and Hailey watched as every bone in Jay's body tensed up. She literally bit her tongue to keep from reaming him for speaking to Jay like that.

"We don't have much time, as he has ordered the consummation be done before morning," Anthony Abraham boldly stated.

Hailey forgot how to breathe. Jay had grown so angry his body was shaking. "DePalma, I swear to god, if you touch my wife, I'll kill you."

Anthony didn't answer him, as his gaze was solely transfixed on Hailey, who tried to do everything in her power to not lose it completely. She was sick, she _felt_ sick, but all she did was force her lips into a thin line, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Are you listening to me? You touch her, and I will kill you!" Jay shouted.

Anthony's laugh was dead as his eyes briefly cut to Jay, whose wrists were scarring as he fought against the chains.

"And yet here I am," his voice was dripping with smugness. He crouched down in front of Hailey, who had already tried to back up as far as she could. His hand stroked the side of her face, chuckling with sick satisfaction at her eyes shutting and body shaking beneath his touch.

"See, a woman needs to have good hips for birth," he disgustingly ran a hand over Hailey's. "Great breasts," his hand had just brushed her chest when he felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked over to Jay, who had roughly kicked him for doing the very thing he warned him about.

Tony grimaced, turning away from Hailey and instead, facing Jay. Jay was prepared for DePalma to hit him; he didn't fear this type of situation anymore. He only wanted Hailey and Amelia to be safe. He'd rather die making that happen than to be alive without them.

Instead, he was met with his pocketknife, the small blade shining gruesomely in Jay's direction.

"No please," Hailey began to beg, fearing that he was going to hurt Jay.

DePalma held up a hand to silence her. Hailey bit her lip to keep hold of her tears. Before she could react, Tony did something neither of them expected. He unlocked one of Jay's chains.

"What're you–" Jay started, but Tony shushed him, shaking his head like Jay was the stupidest person alive.

He thrust the knife into Jay's empty hand, and now it was Jay's turn to look at him with absurdity.

"You need to know who's in control here. Hailey will pay the price for your obstruction."

Jay didn't even want to know what DePalma wanted him to do with the knife, but he sure as hell wasn't gonna give that scumbag another win. He lunged at him, but DePalma had a backup plan.

"Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn't." He said, tsk-tsking his finger at Jay, who had abruptly stopped his movements at the sight of Amelia Rose.

"**Jay**!" Hailey screamed, watching in horror as the scene played out in front of her.

"Alright, okay. I'm backing up," Jay said sternly, taking back his position on the ground. "Please, just don't hurt our daughter."

DePalma set Amelia's car seat style chair on the ground next to him, the little girl blissfully unaware of what was happening since she was asleep. Or knocked out, but Jay prayed for the former, as did Hailey.

"_Anthony_," Hailey asked cautiously. "Did you do something to Amelia?"

"No, she's just a little extra sleepy. A small dose of Sedafin will do that to a baby." He smirked, cocking his eye brow.

Hailey's furrowed on her face before stealing a glance at her little girl. She appeared to be unconscious as Anthony said; but she just hoped she would stay that way, if only so she wouldn't have to witness whatever terrible things Anthony Abraham had planned for her parents.

"She'll stay that way if your husband does as he's told for once," Anthony warned.

"Fine, fine. Just tell him what you want," Hailey said too quickly, alarming Jay.

"Hail–" Jay began, but he was stunned into silence by a piercing gaze from his wife. It read: _You will do whatever you have to. That's what we said. We'd do what we had to, to get our daughter back._

Jay sighed, but he understood. His eyes met Tony's, who grinned maniacally at the couple.

Tony stood before them, his presence menacing as he spoke his next order. "Carve an X into her arm."

* * *

"What?" Jay thought he was losing his mind. Had he heard him right?

"You heard me," Anthony Abraham challenged. "Mark her."

"No," Jay said, furiously shaking his head back and forth. "I won't," he knew his voice was breaking, but he didn't care. He'd rather be ripped to shreds than hurt Hailey.

"**Jay**!" Hailey's voice cracked, and he turned to see tears building up in her eyes. "Just do it," she surmised.

"_Hailey_!" Jay's voice was tinged with sadness. "You can't be serious," he tried to reason with her, but he knew deep down what needed to be done.

"Do it now, Jay. Or your daughter won't live to see her third birthday." Anthony threatened.

Jay raised his hands in defeat. "Alright, _alright_!" He moved over to his wife, gently taking the arm closest to him. He forced himself to lock eyes with her once more, giving her one last second to back out, to flip the script, change the game.

Hailey sniffled, the tears now freely falling down her cheeks. "It's okay," she whispered sadly.

Jay fought off his own tears as he brought the knife close to her skin. He chose the slightly rougher skin of her forearm, since he knew it would be slightly less painful, but that offered him no consolation in this horrific act he was about to commit.

His hand was shaking, but he reigned it in, knowing a shaky hand meant a bad cut, and a bad cut could be more harmful to Hailey.

Hailey braced herself for the immense pain that was about to hit. When she felt the blade make the first cut, she let out a tiny yelp, not expecting a pocket knife to do that much damage to the skin. As she felt the second one tear into her skin, she turned away, not able to handle the blood she was sure she was shedding.

She was brought back to reality when she heard Jay curse. "Dammit," his hand gripped the area of her forearm he had made the cut into, stopping the blood.

She painfully ripped at her shirt with her good arm, tearing off a piece for him to use to tie it off. They successfully tied it off together, as a precaution though. When Hailey saw the surprisingly minimal amount of bloodshed she didn't question it, only thanked the normal, all good, all seeing God she knew to be true.

"Enough!" DePalma's voice boomed. "You've passed this test. But I still must go through with the plan," he hovered over Hailey, who couldn't help the fear that took over her face.

"No, no, please," she begged. "Please, I'll do _anything_, anything, _please_!" Much to her surprise, Anthony Abraham halted in his track to her. He tapped his chin, in thought for a moment.

"Anything?" His voice took on a malicious quality. "Fine. There's another way to prove your worth to me. It just won't be fun for your husband."

He walked over to where Amelia was, reaching behind her chair, almost into the floor, like he had hidden something there. When he turned, Hailey let out an audible gasp. In his hands was a gun.

"What is–" Hailey tried, but DePalma did the same thing he did to Jay just minutes earlier. Hailey shut her mouth, but kept her eyes trained on the gun.

"We're gonna play a little game. I'm sure you've heard of it." Anthony noted as he unlocked Hailey's chains this time.

He plucked her up from the ground before forcing Jay to stand up too. "Three chambers, one bullet. A little game called Russian Roulette. Only this time, Jay won't die by his own hand; but of the one he loves most."

"**No**," Hailey cried. "No, no, no! She tried to get away from Tony, but he only grabbed her, dragging her back kicking and screaming.

"You're only making this worse for yourself," DePalma huffed, grabbing the gun and training on their baby instead.

"No, no, please. _Please_. Fine, fine," Hailey surrendered. "Just quit pointing it at her."

DePalma chuckled, handing over the gun to Hailey. Before she could take it, he came behind her, tying a blindfold around her eyes.

Hailey was shaking as he finally gave her the revolver. She heard the horrific spinning of the chambers, locking one of the 3 into place for her to fire.

She felt hot tears stinging her eyes, soaking the blindfold as he raised the gun to where she assumed Jay was standing.

"I'm sorry," she told Jay. She wished she could see his eyes, his face, _everything_ one last time, but she didn't dare make a move in DePalma's presence.

Her finger barely pulsed the trigger, as if that would make the unthinkable unreal. She heard the gun fire, but almost passed out at the sound of the chamber being empty. _Thank god._ She heard Jay let out a tiny breath too.

DePalma spun the gun again, locking the second death sentence into place. Hailey repeated the process, choking on a sob when the second chamber didn't release the bullet. _Oh god_. Her relief didn't last as she obviously knew the utter terror that awaited them both.

"Please, can I just– please, can't I say goodbye? _Please._" She begged.

"Pull the trigger now, or your daughter dies."

Hailey sobbed, her hand wobbly finding the handle for the final and fatal blow. "I love you Jay." She cried as she felt her finger on the trigger.

"I love you too, Hailey." Those were the last words she heard before the gun went off.


	7. Fire & Gold

**A/N: And we're back. So sorry for the delay after such an intense chapter...but I promise, this one wraps it up well. Let me reiterate though – this chapter, nor the one prior, is not the end of the story. I think I've got one final chapter planned to really tie this trilogy up in a nice little bow for ya'll. Anyway, hope you like this chapter. Thanks for all the lovely feedback - and all these other Upstead stories we're getting lately? Ah-mazing! :) PS: Did you guys SEE the new promo for #OneChicago Wednesdays?! I feel like I'm one of the only ones that like it, but oh well, whatever. Can't wait for September 25! Oh & PPS: I listened to "Walk Through the Fire" by Zayde Wolf & Ruelle; as well as "There's a Hero in You" by Tommee Profitt ft. Fleurie (which is coincidentally the song used as background music in the aforementioned Chicago promo) while writing this chapter. Okay, that's all. Enjoy. **

* * *

Hailey didn't realize she had closed her eyes until she opened them to a room filled with gunpowder residue and blood. _Blood...so much blood. Jay's blood. Jay. _Her mind was struggling to think coherently, and her limbs felt like they were trapped in quicksand. She had tried to move, but felt frozen; stagnant. She didn't know what was worse: to be frozen and unaware; or to be conscious of time and space and people and everything, but not be able to do a damn thing about it.

While her body may have been at a standstill, her eyes were flurrying about. She was scanning the room, trying to keep track of everyone else's positions. Since her first priority was her daughter, she felt a wave of relief wash over her when she saw Amelia still sitting soundly in her seat. Her eyes found Jay next, who was lying on the ground. Everything hit her at once: the moments that had led up to her husband lying on the floor like that. _The gun, the game, that god awful bullet. _Her sheer panic must have been strong enough to will her to move, because she went running over to Jay's side. He wasn't moving, and she tried to turn him over to her to see if she could hear a heartbeat when DePalma's shadow loomed over them.

"What a way to end," he callously remarked. His unforgiving laugh made Hailey lose it.

"_You_," she gravely stated, lunging at Anthony Abraham. He fought her off, his cackle a sick echo in her ears. Hailey still wouldn't let it go, clawing, hitting, doing anything possible to inflict as much pain to DePalma as he had done to her. Her emotions got the better of her though, and he effortlessly shoved her down to the ground, where she stayed for a second too long, turning back to Jay, sobbing as she tried to see if there was any sign of life left in him.

"Jay," she hoarsely whispered. "Jay, please, _please…_you can't leave me, _us_," out of the corner of her eye she saw Amelia start to stir. She was about to go over to her when DePalma's voice again interrupted her actions.

"No. Actually…_this_, this will be an ending no one will ever forget…." His laugh took on that evil tone, the one saved for sociopaths and the scum of the earth Intelligence put away every day. _Fitting_, Hailey surmised as she gave him one last glare.

And in the blink of an eye or rather, a strike of a match, the world as she knew it went up in smoke.

* * *

"We haven't seen anything new for the last hour, boss," Adam radioed to Voight. "Should we try to get in contact with them?"

"No, wait for my signal, or for Halstead and Upton to signal out," Voight ordered tersely. The rest of his squad stayed put, resuming their positions. Time was ticking by, albeit slower than they would have thought. None of them wanted to imagine the horrid reasons _why_ that was though.

"Boss," Ruzek's comment was interrupted by the scanner with an urgent message. "5021, Engine 51, Truck 81, Ambulance 61, Battalion 25, all units respond to a starter fire at –" the connection kept getting scrambled, as it would on their frequency thanks to the awful reception out in the middle of nowhere. Intelligence rekeyed their radios, getting the signal back, to which Voight asked the operator to repeat that last known.

"– 5151 Kingsbury Lane."

Upon hearing this, all eyes went up to the building they had been so carefully watching for the last hour. After no activity for what seemed like forever, sure enough, what they originally thought was an overpowering bright light, or whatever else kind of cult-like voodoo Anthony Abraham were to try; was actually the signaling of the start of a fire.

"5021 emergency. Two plain clothes officers on scene of Kingsbury fire. I need that ambulance and rescue squad _NOW_!" Voight yelled into the receiver.

"All units be advised, plain clothes officers trapped inside barn. Squad 3 ETA 4 minutes out; Ambulance 61, 5."

"Dammit!" Voight cursed, hopping out of his car as he saw the smoke begin to evaporate out into the night air. His team got out too, only able to helplessly watch the building that Jay, Hailey, and they assumed Amelia were in, burn.

"Boss, we gotta do something!" Ruzek cried, angrily making a run for the barn. Voight and Kevin grabbed him up quickly, effectively stopping his race into certain death.

"ADAM!" Kim screamed at her boyfriend, her hands latching onto his face. "You can't," she said, her voice breaking in two. "_We can't_," she sadly whispered. And he knew that. She knew he knew that. Everyone knew what they knew: police could not go into a burning building unless they all had death wishes. Without the proper equipment or ventilation, they would go up just as fast as the building itself. And what good would that much loss of life do? Sad, but true.

"But, we gotta, we can't, _we_–" Adam sunk to his knees, overcome with emotion for his friends. Kim consoled him, while Vanessa, Kevin, and Voight tried their best to keep their composure. _What a way to end_…

* * *

Hailey's eyes had never been flooded with so much heat and light in her life. The fire was overwhelming for one lit match. She figured Anthony Abraham must have used some kind of accelerant, she just didn't know what. _Not that it mattered_. She immediately began coughing, the smoke filling her lungs, greedily feeding on her air supply.

Despite this, she sprang into action, grabbing at her shirt sleeve and tearing a piece off, before crawling over to Amelia Rose and shielding her face with it. The little girl had been awoken by the start of the blaze, and was crying. Hailey tried to calm her, but she also had Jay to worry about to. She – maybe foolishly, she wasn't sure of anything at this point – was still holding onto hope that he was alive. She knew he would fight; he always did. She couldn't lose him like this. She just couldn't bear the thought, the going through life without him.

Her chest heaved, partially because of the pollution it was taking in, but also because of her dry, choked on cries. She gingerly touched Jay's cheek, leaning back down to see if she could hear or feel anything remotely human about him. A fresh teardrop had fallen onto his lips from her eyes, and she went to get it when she felt a miniscule movement of his chest underneath her fingertips. Maybe it was paranoia, but she didn't care. She had to try.

"Jay? Jay, honey please, if you can hear me, please, do _something_, anything **please**!" She screamed, her throat scratchy and tired.

She almost fainted when she saw his eyelids flutter. "Mm," was the slightly mumbled sound he made. Her eyes immediately went searching down his body. _Then where was the blood coming from?_ Her hands frantically patted him down until she found the _real_ wound.

"Oh God, Jay," she whispered as she lifted her now blood-covered hand from his side. Tony had knifed him, that was the only explanation. There was a clear cut into his side near his ribs, no evidence of a bullet wound anywhere. _That son of a bitch; he played us. Well, me anyway,_ she reminded herself, sneaking a quick glance at her own cut up arm as evidence of _her_ real wound that was inflicted unwillingly by her husband.

"Jay," she tried again, cupping his cheek with one hand as she tore a piece of his shirt, stuffing it against his injury with her free hand. "Here, can you press this for a second? I gotta go get Amelia, and then we've gotta get the hell outta here," she said, all traces of humor gone from her voice.

He nodded, or what Hailey assumed was an attempt at a nod. He slowly but surely moved his hand to his side, holding onto the piece of fabric that was keeping him from bleeding out. Hailey crawled back to Amelia, who was crying now; the smoke had created a thick fog in the room. She jumped up, and with all the energy she had left, rammed her body against the door, trying to break it down. "God!" She screamed as she felt her arm crack against the hard doorframe. _Son of a bitch_.

She didn't even realize Jay had moved over to her until she felt the warmth of his body by her side. "Jay? What the hell are you doing?! No, I'm fine, don't worry about me, _please. _Just focus on keeping that pressure, okay? I'll get Amelia," she said, but as she tried to crawl again, her hurt arm faltered under even her minimal weight. _Shit, well there goes that idea._

"Hails," Jay finally spoke, his voice weak and raspy. He started to cough, but his once faded green eyes were bright with determination, giving her a look that said, _please, just let me help_. She sighed, but nodded. He nodded toward the boarded-up window, his eyes communicating that he would handle that while she tended to their daughter. Hailey nodded once again, before grabbing his face and pulling it towards her own. She kissed him harshly but it was one of the most sacred moments of their relationship because they both didn't know when, or if, they'd get another chance. His lips melted against hers, and they put every bit of passion they had into it, making sure the other knew just how much they meant, how much they loved, how much they felt _everything_. As if they needed the reminder; but it wasn't so much about that as it was the finality of it all. Or rather, the _fragility_ of it all.

"I love you," she said tearfully.

Jay brushed the tears from her cheek. "I love you too. Always."

They shared one last glance, because in the 5 minutes that had passed since the fire began, it had spread at lightning speed, engulfing half the room. Hailey thanked the real, normal God above that it was the side where they would've been had they not been untied. So, in a cruel way, that game of Russian Roulette may have unknowingly gave them a fighting chance.

Jay went to work on the window behind him, kicking, shoving, scraping at the wood. He had managed to break one of the boards loose, but the other 3 weren't so easy. The nails may have been rusted, but they were knocked in tight. "Come on!" He screamed, trying to channel his rage into a couple barge kicks. He fought through the searing pain that ripped at his side, knowing full well the shirt cloth was drenched. He couldn't think about that now; just like he couldn't think about what would happen if they didn't get out of here. _They had to get out of here. It couldn't end like this_.

Meanwhile, Hailey had managed to pick Amelia up out of the seat, nestling her in the crook of her good arm, trying to keep her shifted inward, towards her own body instead of facing outward toward the flames. If she had a free hand, she would have used it to smack herself for her stupid idea of trying to use the gun to shoot their way out of that literal hell hole. _Yeah, sure Hailey, just use the gun that obviously had no real bullets in it. Yep, that'll solve everything! _She bit her sarcastic tongue, chucking the idea into an imaginary trash can.

She whirled her head at the sound of more boards breaking. Jay had gotten another down; but he slumped over a little defeated at the other's hanging on so tight. "Hailey, I think that might be it." He said, giving her a look that said, _I really tried_. Hailey looked the space in the window. Amelia could definitely fit through there. She could _maybe_ if she just went for it, throwing herself into it. And while Jay was toned, Hailey didn't know 100% if he could get through too. And she wasn't leaving him, no matter what.

* * *

All of Firehouse 51 was on scene within minutes. Matt and Kelly rallied their teams, getting Squad to set up a rescue ladder to the 2 windows that were boarded up; and Truck readied the hoses to get the flames to die down to help clear out some of that god-awful smoke.

"Truck, release!" Boden called off for the hoses to be let go. Mouch, Otis, Cruz, and Hermann fired away, releasing buckets of water onto the barn's lower half, soaking the first floor as fast as possible.

"Squad, pony up!" Severide yelled to Tony, Capp, and Ritter. Tony and Ritter went down one ladder, while Kelly and Capp went down the other. They were surveying their scenes when Severide noticed that his window had already been broken into. What he didn't know was that it actually had been broken _open_.

A bit below, Intelligence watched as Firehouse 51 worked to save their family. Voight couldn't help but shake the dreaded question: if Jay and Hailey were trapped down there, was DePalma? Or would they get lucky and get him too?

As if on cue, Adam and Kevin shouted to him as loud as they could over the noise. "SARGE! WE SEE HIM. WE SEE DEPALMA! ON THE STAIRS!"

Anthony Abraham, aka: Tony DePalma, was in fact on the top step that had led out of the godforsaken basement Hailey and Jay were presumably trapped in. Ruzek and Atwater grabbed the first flame retardant jackets they could get their hands on, running into the burning building like _they_ were on fire.

Voight could only watch in smug satisfaction as his two detectives came out with a handcuffed and angry DePalma. Hank literally kicked his teeth in for good – or, well, _deserved_ is the better word – measure.

"Get him outta here," he barked to Ruzek and Atwater. Kevin and Adam begrudgingly left the scene with their suspect in custody. Kim and Vanessa were just about to go ask Voight what _they_ could do when they heard Severide shout to them.

"Guys! Hurry, I think I see something!"

* * *

As if reading Hailey's mind, Jay was already pulling her along to the window, yelling at her to go, as the flames had now cornered them in to that wall of the room. _Shit, shit, shit_.

"No, Jay, I'm not leaving you!" Hailey resisted, tears back in her eyes.

"Hailey!" Jay said more forcefully. "You have to, I'm not giving you a choice here!" He pleaded, begging with her.

"Jay, I can't leave you!" She said, her words getting lost underneath her subsequent cries and coughing fits.

"Hailey, I'll never leave you," he said wistfully. And that broke her heart even more to know that he was alright with that possibility. Well, maybe not alright with it, but accepting of it. That his fate was to not walk out of this fire; but that hers somehow was. "It just won't be in the way you'd like," he said, stroking her cheek. He kissed the top of Amelia's head, and Hailey cried more as she watched him cry too.

"Hailey, _please,_ please," he begged again.

Hailey opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by the sound of something pounding against the door. Little did she know it wasn't something but rather _someone_.

"Someone call for a firefighter?" Severide asked, charming as ever, even if the face of utter danger.

"KELLY!" Hailey almost jumped out of her own skin, partially due to being frightened by his sudden appearance, but also out of joy that they would actually be rescued now. "Thank God!"

"Alright, let's get you guys out of here!" Kelly motioned for Hailey to hand him Amelia, which she reluctantly agreed to. She watched as he carefully lowered her onto a baby-sized board, which looked almost like a hammock. Capp lowered her carefully down to the ground, where Boden and Voight successfully scooped her up.

"Alright, now you Upton!" Kelly shouted, holding out his hand for Hailey to take. Hailey hesitated for a split second, looking back at Jay, who was practically pushing her out the window to safety. Kelly had pulled her out and got her situated on a board. She was being lowered, about halfway down when she heard a commotion above her.

Above, she could only watch in horror as the flames finished swallowing the room whole. Her eyes clouded with tears, her face felt numb. Her body went rigid. Her heart felt like it had stopped. _No, no, no_. "JAY! JAY?!" She screamed for him, she sobbed for him.

She didn't even want to look back up there, but something inside her told her she had to. She watched carefully as Kelly, who had ducked down the ladder to take cover from the sudden burst of fire, re-emerged to look and see if Jay had somehow miraculously survived the blast.

"Halstead?!" He called out. He leaned over the window sill, trying to search for a body. Nothing but smoke and ash came up from the room. In all his years on the job, he knew there was no way someone went that fast. It just wasn't possible. And sure enough, when he looked just below him, on the small bit of space between the ladder and the window, he got the shock of his life.

* * *

"SEVERIDE! A LITTLE HELP PLEASE?!" Jay yelled to Kelly. He was holding onto the tiny piece of rope that had been hanging off the ladder's rungs below Severide. It had sat below Kelly, but off to one side enough where he took the gigantic risk of leaping for it just as the room went up.

"Jesus Christ, Jay! What the hell, man?!" Kelly shouted, a little bit amazed but a lot relieved that his friend was safe.

"Kelly, just get me the hell off this thing!" Jay said, his voice a little more nervous as the rope only had so much give.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming. Capp, anchor me!" Kelly ordered. Capp attached Kelly's clip to his own, tossing Severide over to the side of the ladder so he could loop around to grab Jay.

"Almost got ya, Jay," Kelly said, a small smirk cutting across his face as he saw Jay holding onto the rope like a middle school boy praying for an A+ on the yearly fitness test. He cracked up as he saw Jay roll his eyes. Kelly quickly wrapped the rope around Jay's waist, connecting it to his own pulley, and Capp efficiently pulled them both back up to the ladder.

Hailey cried happy tears as she watched all of this happening. She had been so focused on that, she hadn't even realized that Stella, Brett, and Foster had taken it upon themselves to finish lowering her to the ground. It was only when she was being unhooked from the board that she was aware of the hands on her.

"Alright, Hailey, that's it, nice and easy," Kidd said in a rhythmic voice. Hailey moved to start the few short steps toward the ambo, though her mind and heart were still up there with Jay.

"There ya go," Kidd said, helping Hailey to sit down on the ambulance bed. Amelia was hooked up to a monitor already, her breathing had gone back to normal thank goodness. Hailey breathed another sigh of relief at the sight. _Amelia was okay_, _Jay was alright_. _Oh god, but what about the kids? Were there other kids trapped in that burning building still? _

Hailey's nightmare turned into a dream when she saw a couple rows of kids being led out of the building safely by Cruz, Otis, Mouch, Hermann, Tony, and Ritter. They appeared to be shaken up, but not badly injured. Anthony must've moved them somewhere else in the barn before Jay and Hailey arrived. His odd thinking may have actually saved those kids' lives. Not like that took away from any of the damage he had done. Nothing would deter that. Nothing would ever change the fact that Tony DePalma was going to prison for the rest of his life.

She was brought out of her dark thoughts by the sight of Kelly helping Jay over to the ambulance. He was coughing, and his blood-soaked shirt worried Hailey greatly, but she knew Brett and Foster could get him fixed up.

"Oh lord, Halstead. Between you and your wife, we really ought to just send your brother out with us. That way we wouldn't have to careen you two to Med every time when _he's_ the doctor you always see!" Brett joked, earning a chuckle from Hailey, but an eye roll from Jay. Hailey smiled over at him though, which made him melt into a goofball instantly.

"Alright, you two. Let's go," Foster said, banging on the side of the ambo. "Off to Med!"

Hailey hopped up into the truck, pulling Jay up with her. The two of them sat side by side, holding onto each other with one arm each, the other hand stayed attached to Amelia, who was happily sucking a pacifier as Brett had removed the oxygen mask on the drive over. They were all safe, and together again. The kids that were trapped were safe, and would be reunited with their families again. _Everyone_ and everything was going to be okay, _again_.


	8. Endings

"_Jay_," Hailey whined for the first out of the 100 times she'd said his name this morning. She'd only been up for a couple hours, but she was already being smothered by her sweet, yet sometimes annoying, overprotective husband. "I'm fine," she said, before nodding toward Amelia, who was still sleeping at 8AM in her crib next to their bed. "And so is Amelia, babe. Promise."

Jay sighed, running a hand through his hair as he turned back to her as he was tying his shoes. "Hails, I just – god, I don't like this. That's all. We all should be together. It's only been a week since the fire…." he was practically pouting, like a kid not wanting to go to school. Only he was an adult, and one of them needed to go to work. Intelligence couldn't be down two officers for this long; not with the new chief breathing down their neck.

Hailey crawled over to him, wrapping her arms lovingly around his shoulders and chest. "Hey, we _have_ been together. We've been together this whole week. And while it's been wonderful, you know one of us has to go back today…." She murmured into his neck, kissing her way from there to his cheek. "Besides…we'll be here when you get back. And you might just get a surprise when you come back from work today…" she whispered, winking as he turned his head to look at her.

She giggled as she watched his eyes bug out of his head a little at her implied offer. He quickly hopped up, kissed her quick, as he did with Amelia, before practically tripping over himself as he ran out of the door.

"Jay!" Hailey called, running after him with his coffee that he had left on the kitchen counter. She caught him just as he had opened the latch. "You forgot your coffee." She handed it to him, a small smile on her face. _Maybe they were getting back to normal_.

"Thanks babe," he said, kissing her cheek. "I guess I'd never had extra incentive to get to work before so, I kinda lost my mind there for a second…"

"Uh huh," Hailey scoffed, rolling her eyes. He was such a _guy_ sometimes.

"Well, can ya blame me?" He retorted, to which she finished pushing him out the door.

"_Bye, Jay_," she singsonged, chuckling at him as she heard him yell 'Love you too Hailey!'

* * *

"Halstead, thank you for gracing us with your presence," Platt deadpanned when Jay arrived at 8:30.

"Hey Sarge, how goes it?"

"Oh, it's just sunshine and rainbows over here today," her spunk wasn't lost on Jay, who decided to keep it light with the pleasantries today.

"Yeah, okay. I'll just buzz myself up. Nice to see you Trudy," he mumbled, ducking down and up the stairs.

"Hey, Jay," Trudy said, her features softening as she spoke. "I'm glad you're back."

He smiled at his sergeant. "Glad to be back, Sarge."

"Ayyyy, Jay! Buddy, go to see ya!" Adam shouted in the bullpen as he rolled up. Kevin and Kim greeted him too. He was about to ask where Vanessa was, when he saw Rojas and Voight come out from his office.

"Nice of you to join us, Halstead," Voight gruffly stated. He grabbed the photos from Vanessa, pinning them up to the board. Vanessa began to write names below the pictures, which appeared to be of both victims and suspects.

"Gang war on the West side. Two children were shot in the crossfire. One boy, one girl, aged 15 and 13 respectively. We have Tyson Beckwith and Aideis Johannsson as prime suspects; as they are the new go-to hitmen for taking out potential snitches."

"So, were the children targets?" Jay asked, already feeling sick to his stomach. He really couldn't take another flashback episode from yet _another_ traumatic ordeal. He'd already suffered through enough. Coming back to work was supposed to help distract him, not hinder his progress.

"No, they were casualties," Vanessa said sadly. "The actual targets were Vinnie and Ronnie Vargas, leaders of the 2-1. The G-Park Lords wanted them gone after they thought they were the ones who ripped off their last stash."

"Who did?" Adam asked, pen and paper ready in hand – as if he was actually gonna write notes.

"Oh no, they were right. Vinnie and Ronnie really did rip them off; but only because the 2-1 started a turf war first. Something about the mainline between the West Loop and the West Side is theirs, but then G-Park staked their claim to it already. I don't know, but gang politics aren't really the point here," Voight said roughly. "What matters is those kids. What matters is getting Tyson or Aideis to flip. So, we ready for that?"

"Yes, Sarge" was heard in variations around the bullpen.

"Good," Hank said, looking around the room.

Vanessa and Kevin took a run at Tyson, while Adam and Kim ran at Aideis. Jay knew better than to but himself into an interrogation this soon after his own incident. He just thought that he had put all the stress behind him.

"Hey," Voight's steel tone cut off his thoughts. "You sure you're up for being here?"

"Yeah, Sarge. I'm good…I just didn't expect the first one out of the gate to be kids is all."

"Why don't you take a minute? Go call Hailey, see Amelia, whatever you need. But come back, we aren't losing you today, okay?"

"You got it. Thanks Hank." Jay patted his boss on the shoulder before going to the locker room to grab his phone. He pulled up FaceTime and dialed Hailey.

"Amelia, look who it is! Daddy called to say hi!" Hailey cooed to Amelia Rose, turning from her to Jay's face on the screen. He couldn't help but smile when she smiled.

"Hey, it's my two favorite women," he joked, earning a vibrant laugh from Hailey. He needed that laugh. He needed that reminder of all the good he had in his world. She was the good in his world. Always had been. And Amelia was just icing on the proverbial cake.

"What's up, babe?" Hailey asked, a little bit of concern in her voice. He knew it was odd for him to call randomly in the middle of a workday.

"Nothing, nothing. I just, I just needed to see you," he said, sighing before looking at his daughter who was poking the phone with her finger, covering up the camera partially. "And that little one too." He said, laughing at his daughter's curiosity. "Hi Amelia…" he cooed.

"Gah gah!" She sputtered, bobbing up and down with excitement.

"Oh my God, Jay! Did you hear that?! I think she just said 'Da-Da!'" Hailey cried in astonishment.

"Noo, Hailey, she said gah-gah," Jay said, trying to brush it off.

"Babe, I love you, but you're an idiot." She lamented, rolling her eyes before bouncing Amelia on her knee. "Amelia," she whispered to her little girl, "Say it again for Daddy, please?"

"Da-Da!" Amelia Rose proudly spoke, her green eyes shining. Hailey brushed a strand of her wispy blonde hair out of her face, tucking it behind her tiny ears as she looked back to Jay, who had clearly heard the phrase correctly this time.

"Oh my gosh," Jay whispered, clearly shocked. "Baby girl, you just made my day," he said, feeling himself getting teary-eyed. He opened his mouth to say something else when Adam popped in.

"Jay, we got Tyson to confess. He did the hit; Vinnie ordered it. Let's go pick him up; get this done,"

Jay nodded at his colleague before turning back to Hailey. "Sorry Hailey, I gotta go. Amelia, I love you sweet girl. Hailey, I'll see you tonight, okay? Love you."

"Love you!" Hailey called to him, waving Amelia Rose's little hand in the air.

Jay sighed, setting his phone back in his locker. "Alright, let's go get this prick."

* * *

"Girl, please, he's gonna flip!" Kim's voice echoed over the speaker on Hailey's cell phone.

"_Shit,_" she cursed, turning the speaker off and putting the phone back to her ear. "Oh, come on now, Kim, you can't be serious…"

"I am!" Burgess said. "He's gonna have the best night of his life!"

Hailey couldn't help but laugh at her friend's disposition. "Yeah, whatever. Okay, I called you for outfit advice, not life advice! Come on, red or black?" She asked, holding up each dress on the hanger.

"Do you _really_ not know which one I'm gonna say? _Oh, come on now Hailey_…" she mocked.

Hailey rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay. Red it is. Bye, Kim."

"Bye Hailey. Good luck tonight!"

"Thanks," she replied before hanging up the phone.

She texted Natalie, who answered immediately that she and Will were on their way to get Amelia. They were taking her to work with them; but they'd be on call only if needed so the two doctors could actually watch over the little girl. Hailey was still wary about leaving Amelia in houses with others that weren't her after what happened last time. _She'll be fine_, she told herself.

She decided to slip into her dress, and was applying some matching lipstick when she heard the doorbell ring. She ran downstairs to get it, greeted by Natalie and Will.

"Hey guys, come on in, I'll grab her," Hailey said, running down the hall to their bedroom. She grabbed Amelia in one hand, and her bag in the other before handing them both off to Natalie and Will.

"She'll be just fine, Hailey. Promise." They assured her. Hailey sucked in a breath before nodding. She knew they were right, she was still just a little nervous. Maybe once Jay got back she could let herself go a little bit more.

"Alright, well thank you both for taking her on such short notice," she said, ushering them towards the door.

"Yeah, no problem. We'll drop her off after shift."

"Thank you!" She called to them as she watched them leave for Med.

She turned to go back to her room to fix her hair. She had just polished off a few curls when she heard the door again. _Yay, he's finally home_. She slowly made her way out to the foyer, where Jay stood, shrugging off his jacket.

"Hey," she hoped she sounded nonchalant.

"Hey," Jay automatically said, still looking down as he took his keys out of his pocket. It was only when he looked up that he was officially unable to speak anymore.

_That never got old_. Hailey smirked as she made her way over to him, reaching for the keys in his hand. She set them back on the small table near the entryway, and intertwined her hand in his. She leaned forward on her tip toes to kiss him when he surprised her by picking her up and carrying her back to their bedroom.

"Eager, are we?" She teased.

"With you looking like _that_, you bet I am," he quipped, setting her back on the bed. "Damn, Hailey, you are the sexiest woman I've ever seen."

"Well, you don't look so bad yourself, Halstead," she replied, winking at him.

He bent down to go right to work when she stopped him. "Hey now, wait a second, I got all dressed up, the least you can do is enjoy it for a little while longer," she pouted a little.

He looked at her, arching a brow in her direction before taking a few steps back from her. She sat up on her elbows, watching as he went to sit in the chair that was across the way from their bed. She felt his eyes taking in every inch of her, making her skin heat up in the best way possible. _Oh, okay then_. She sat up, staring him down with just as much intensity, hoping their known communications with their eyes were working in their favor tonight.

"Better," Hailey whispered, bending down to purposefully give him a little show as she went to kick off her heels. "Like what ya see?"

"Yeah, the view is 5-star," he teased, his eyes glinting mischievously.

She laughed, walking over to him, before slowly linking her hands with his, pulling him up from the chair.

"Yeah okay, I take it back," she said, her voice lower than usual.

"Take what back?" Jay asked, his voice a little husky.

"You and me and this damn dress," she said, attempting to reach behind her to pull the zipper down. He chuckled, stopping her for a moment.

"What're you–" she started to ask, but when one of his hands made its way up her leg, while the other made a pass over her chest, she knew what he was doing. "_Oh,_" she barely managed to get out, a moan escaping her lips as he found what he wanted.

"Yeah, okay, forget I said _anything_, at all," she said as she sprawled out on the bed before him as he continued his venture of her body _in_ the aforementioned dress.

"Mhmm," Jay murmured, his lips attaching themselves to her hers, before moving to her jaw and neck. Safe to say she was the one who got surprised that night.

* * *

Hailey woke up to the sound of Amelia bouncing her ball around in her crib. She vaguely remembers Natalie and Will dropping her off a few hours ago, but to be fair she was probably half asleep when she answered the door at 3AM in the morning.

"Hey, baby girl," she whispered, picking up her little one and bouncing her in her arms. "How ya doin' this morning?" She tickled Amelia's tummy, making her giggle, which unintentionally woke Jay.

"Oops, sorry babe," she whispered as he sat up, looking adorable with his bedhead.

"It's okay," he answered, pulling the two of them closer to him. "Never a bad time to see my two favorite ladies," he said, Hailey loving the way his voice was raspy in the morning.

"So, we've got the weekend off," she said factually. Voight had given them weekends off until they were both comfortable enough to leave Amelia away from the two of them for more than an evening. "What do you want to do?"

"Well, I'm still kinda worn out from last night," Jay joked, earning a playful punch in the arm from Hailey. "Hey!" He said, feigning hurt.

"Oh, shut it," she snapped cheekily. "You loved it."

"That, I did." He whispered in her ear, making Hailey shiver as she felt his breath tickle her skin.

"No, but seriously," she tried again, "What's on the agenda? I'm thinking park if the weather's nice? That good with you?" She asked him as she decided to put Amelia back in her crib so she could go get ready for the day.

Jay simply sat there, watching her move about. God, he was the luckiest man alive. Gorgeous wife, beautiful little baby, good job. He really had it _made_. "Whatever you want."

Hailey eyed him for a second. "Well, what _I_ want is to go get a shower…" she said, picking up the clothes she had picked out for the day. "And no, not _that_ kind of shower. Sorry babe…I'm worn out from last night too!" She said, half joking, half serious.

It was Jay's turn to roll his eyes, to which Hailey threw a pillow in his direction, making him laugh. "Yeah yeah, okay."

Jay heard the water turn on and decided to get himself ready for the day too. As he was getting dressed, his mind was spinning. He wanted to do something special for Hailey, to show her how much he loved her, and Amelia. How much he appreciated the two of them and this life they had together. _But what_? He fired off a couple texts to Adam and Kevin, plus one to Will. He needed some advice.

* * *

"Dude, I say do it!" Adam said, clapping Jay on the shoulder.

"I for once, agree with Ruzek," Kevin said.

"I–hey, oh, okay," Adam said, clearly surprised he was actually being agreed with.

"Yeah, I mean they're right man. This would definitely be a grand gesture." Will added, sipping his beer.

Jay nodded, before looking down at his glass of whiskey. The boys were at Molly's, as Jay insisted to Hailey that he was in desperate need of a 'guy's night.' She agreed, saying that she could use some time with the girls, saying that she was going to invite Kim and Natalie over for a little dinner party. It had been a few days since their weekend in the park, and the two of them were a little nervous, for different reasons of course. The other just had zero idea as to _why_.

"Hailey, I cannot believe you haven't done it!" Kim said, a little surprised at her friend.

"Kim! I don't even think you can find out now," Hailey responded, taking a big gulp of her soda water.

"Uh huh, and your soda water says otherwise," Kim retorted, making Hailey roll her eyes.

"You can actually figure it out now if you wanted Hailey," Natalie said in her medical voice. "That's why First Response is so popular."

Hailey sighed, knowing she was probably right. "Yeah, I guess. I just, god, it's such a big step, you know? I mean, we've just been through so much, and things with Amelia are going good. I just don't wanna rock the boat."

"Only one way to find out," Kim and Natalie said simultaneously, handing Hailey a paper bag.

"Oh, my word, you guys are too much," Hailey exclaimed.

"Please, for the love of God, just take the damn test!" Kim said, her eyes widening a little at the bit of attitude in her voice. "_Please,_" she said, sweeter and less sassy.

Hailey gave in. "Fine," she hopped up from the couch and went to the bathroom. In five minutes or less, her life would change forever.

Across town at Molly's, Jay was also making a life changing decision.

"So, will you guys come with me to check out the places?" He asked, looking around at his family and friends. They all nodded, big smiles spread across their faces.

"Our little Jay's growing up!" Adam joked.

"Cheers, man. Seriously, this is awesome," Kevin said, raising his bottle. Will and Adam did the same, and they all clinked glasses with Jay, celebrating his major move.

"We've got 3 options within our price range," he told the guys. "There's one I think Hailey will really like, considering it's right by her parent's house."

"You'd be down for the hour commute every day?" Adam asked, sipping his beer.

"I'd do anything to make Hailey happy, man." Jay said, staring wistfully into the distance.

"Fair enough," Ruzek said, shaking Jay's shoulder knowingly. Jay smiled, knowing it was true.

"Hailey? Let's see it!" Kim called. Hailey came out of the bathroom, test in hand. She didn't speak, to which Kim automatically took to mean bad news, as in _negative_. When Natalie came over to her side to see the results, she screamed, which got Hailey out of her daze. "Oh my God, Hailey!"

"What? What! Lemme see!" Kim yelled excitedly, running around to Hailey's other side. "OMG!" The two of them jumped up and down, as Hailey just continued to stare at the test's big plus sign. _Positive_. _She was pregnant, again_.

"Hailey," Kim tentatively placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, noticing she hadn't said a word yet.

"You okay?" Natalie asked, leading Hailey back over to the sofa.

"I uh, yeah. I'm good. I just can't believe it is all. I'm happy, I am. Wow." Hailey said, sighing as a couple happy tears fell from her eyes.

"This is amazing, Hailey."

"Congrats girl."

Hailey hugged her friends, thanking them for being here. She wouldn't have been able to do this without them.

* * *

A couple days later, Jay and Will had taken a look at the first two houses. One was about the same size as his apartment, but with two bedrooms and a full-sized master bath. The other was a townhouse in Canaryville, which looked nice, but didn't exactly scream "Upstead," if they were being honest. Jay only hoped his third option in Lake Forest was a winner, for his wife's sake. He knew how much she loved being up there, and he wanted her to be happier than ever.

"Yo, Ruz, Kev! You guys coming or what?" Jay called to his friends from the district parking lot. Adam and Kevin came barreling out of the office, piling into Jay's pickup for the drive up to Lake Forest.

When they arrived at the open house, all 3 of their jaws were on the floor at the sight of the house. The beautiful emerald green paneled, white windowed, two story cottage-like home stood tall and surrounded by the greenery that Hailey had grown up around. Jay had gotten used to it to over the years of going to her parent's place.

"Dude, this is – _wow_," Adam said, taking off his sunglasses.

"Yeah man, if you don't buy it, I just might!" Kevin joked.

"Alright, gentlemen. Let's go see it," Jay said, shaking his head as Adam and Kevin ran ahead of him, excitedly checking out the house.

The interior was just as amazing as the exterior. All new appliances, a great Jacuzzi tub, not to mention their own pool in the backyard. All of it was amazing – and Jay still couldn't believe it was within his price range. Course, he was using the money his dad left to him to help pay for some of it; but Hailey was worth it. With his savings and the bit of Pat's money, he got the 350K in the bag. For his house…no, for _their house._ He loved saying that. And he loved that he'd be able to do this for his wife and daughter. Little did he know how perfect it was.

* * *

Hailey smoothed out her hair for the billionth time. She and Jay were going out to dinner, and she had planned to tell him her big news tonight. Of course, she didn't know that she wasn't the only one with big news to share. Jay had put down the offer this morning on the house, and he had picked up the keys this afternoon. Hailey had taken a second pregnancy test earlier in the day, just to be sure since it was officially a week after the last time they had sex. Course she had a feeling for a while now…well, at least the feeling that she wanted another baby. Or that she'd be okay with that plan if something were to happen.

The two of them barely spoke on the way to The Purple Pig, a rarity for the duo. They always had something to talk about; or something to laugh at; but not tonight. Tonight, each had something big on their minds, and were working through the proper things to say to the other.

They had made it inside and were sitting down to dinner when Jay finally broke the silence. "I'm glad we got to do this," he said, squeezing Hailey's hand.

She smiled over at him, squeezing his hand back. "Me too, me too."

They ordered their favorite dishes, nervously pushing the food around their plates when Hailey decided it was time to announce her news first, or else she'd go nuts.

"Jay?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah?" He asked her. His eyes were shining, and his smile was soft.

"I um, I have something to tell you," she said, her eyes betraying her by looking down at her lap. She was usually more confident than this. _Come on, Hailey, pull it together_.

"Hey, what is it?" Jay said, reaching across the table to take her hand. She grabbed both of his hands, locking eyes with him, hoping to convey more with her eyes in case her words got scrambled.

"I'm pregnant."

She watched Jay drop his hands from hers. She felt her heart drop a little, worried that she had scared him off. But her worries were soon put to rest when she realized Jay was coming over to her side of the table, pulling her up and kissing her passionately, not even caring if other restaurant goers saw. Hailey kissed him back, happy tears springing from both their eyes as they locked gazes again.

"Hails," he said, cupping her face in his hands, looking at her for a moment.

"Yeah?" She said, her voice a little muffled by the tears.

"I got us a house, babe." He said, his smile cracking through his happy tears.

"You– you did what?" She asked, surprised, and unsure of she had heard him correctly.

"I got us our own place. A house in Lake Forest. Just around the block from your parents. Not an apartment, but a _house_."

Hailey jumped up into his arms, kissing him over and over again with the purest joy she'd ever felt. "Jay Halstead, you are the best man I know," she said, her legs still locked around his waist, and her hands still around his neck.

"I love you Hailey," he said, smoothing out her hair with one of his hands before wrapping it back around her waist.

"Love you too, Jay. Always." She said, before kissing him again.

It had been a while since the two had forgotten their dinner in favor of each other's company, but what could they say? That was one of their things; and they wouldn't have had it any other way. So, as they made their way out of the restaurant, giddy expressions never leaving their faces, and their hands never leaving each other; they knew they were right where they were supposed to be.

_Together_.

And as they returned home to see their beautiful baby girl, smiling at their arrival, their hearts swelled. _A family_. As Hailey picked Amelia up, she barely caught her second words.

"Ma ma," Amelia rose said, another bright smile taking over her little face.

"Oh my gosh," she whispered, more tears falling down her face. "Jay, you heard that too, right?"

"I sure did. Good job, _mom_," he said, wrapping them both up into a hug.

"Nice work, _Dad_," she quipped, kissing him sweetly.

"Love you Hailey." Jay said, kissing her back.

He kissed Amelia's forehead. "You too, Amelia Rose."

He gently placed his hand on Hailey's stomach. "And you too, little one."

"I love you Jay, so much," she said, her smile so bright it only made Jay cry a few more of his own joyful tears.

"And you too, baby girl," she kissed Amelia's cheek, before placing her free hand on top of Jay's, whose was still on her stomach. "And you too. We can't wait to meet you."

_Together. As a family. They made it through. They'd always make it through, because they were stronger together. Happier together. They were great as individuals, but together, they could take on whatever the world threw at them. They had proven that time and time again. And they knew they'd raise Amelia and whoever baby #2 turned out to be just the same. Strong and kind. Just like their parents. Because at the core of everything, Jay and Hailey had been partners in everything: first in work, then in life, and now, as a parental unit. They wouldn't have done it any other way. It worked between them. And they loved their life because of it._

* * *

**A/N: And with that, this story is now complete. Hopefully I wrapped it up nicely for you guys. I'm so glad ya'll like the trilogy idea – I seriously never thought I could keep it up, haha. This is the most I've written for one couple in a long while... guess that proves how much I love Upstead! :) Anywho, I do have other writings (work-wise) to attend to, so I'm not sure if I'll have another story before the premiere happens later this month. But I'm sure I'll be back to write something whenever season 7 inspires me – cheers to more Upstead moments this season & I'm so excited for September 25! Thanks for all the lovely feedback on this story, and the other two. Seriously has meant the world - glad you guys have had as much fun reading it as I have had writing it! **


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